Representations of Landscape in Film: the (Reel
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REPRESENTATIONS OF LANDSCAPE IN FILM: THE (REEL) KOREAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN GEOGRAPHY MAY 2008 By Christopher Fuhriman Thesis Committee: Jon Goss, Chairperson Hong Jiang Mary G. McDonald We certify that we have read this thesis and that, in our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Geography. ~4.~ :Ji1t~~t2 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication .................. ..... ..... ....... ...... ..... ...................... .................. .... ........ ........ ...... v Acknowledgements ..... ..... ...... ............................................ ....................................... vi List of Figures .......................................................................................................... vii Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................ I A Cultural Geography of the Korean DMZ in Film ..................................... 3 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................. 6 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 19 Selected Films for Research .......................................................................... 19 Methodology ................................................................................................. 24 Conclusion ...... ... ..... ....... ........... ............................................................. ....... 28 Chapter 2: The Korean Demilitarized Zone ............................................................. 29 Historical Geography .................................................................................... 27 The DMZ in US Print Media-Reinforcing a Stereotype ............................ 34 North Korean Conceptualizations of the DMZ-an Incomplete Picture .... 42 South Korean Conceptualizations of the DMZ-Toward Reunification? .... 45 Farmers' Conceptualization of the DMZ .......................................... 48 Culturalists' and Monumentalists' Conceptualization of the DMZ .. 52 Industrial Developers' Conceptualization of the DMZ .................... 55 Ecologists' and Conservationists' Conceptualization of the DMZ ... 56 Ignoring the Mines ....... ................ ......... ............................... ................ ......... 60 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 3: The Korean DMZ in American Cinema ................................................. 64 Introduction .. ..... ... ... ............ ..... ........ ............................................................. 64 The Role of Genre in Film ............................................................................ 64 The Science Fiction Genre ............................................................................ 66 Plot Summary--Stealth ................................................................................ 70 The DMZ in Stealth-Sacrificing Reality for Dramatic Effect .................... 73 North Koreans in Stealth-A Portrait of the Primitive Other ....................... 77 The James Bond Genre . ..... ..... ..................................................... .......... ....... 80 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Plot Summary-Die Another Day ................................................................ 85 The DMZ in Die Another I?ay---Highlighting the North Korean Threat ..... 87 North Koreans in Die Another Day-----A Biography of a Kim Jong ll? ......... 94 Chapter 4: The Korean DMZ in South Korean Cinema .......................................... 100 Introduction ......................... ....... ........... .... ...................... .................. ............ 100 Contemporary (South) Korean Cinema ........................................................ 100 DetectiveIMurder Mystery Geure ................................................................. 103 Plot Summary--Joint Security Area ............................................................. 106 The DMZ in Joint Security Area-Locating (unified) Korean Identity ....... 109 North Koreans in Joint Security Area-Enemies or Heroic Brothers? ........ 117 Chapter 5: Conclusion-Beyond the Reel DMZ ..................................................... 129 Three Movies, Three DMZs ........................................................................ 129 Will the Real (not Reel) North Koreans Please Stand Up? .......................... 135 Finding Meaning in the Reel DMZ ............................................................... 141 References ................................................................................................................ 145 Filmography ................................................................................................. 156 iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my wife, Sarah; and to our children, Abigail, Samuel, and Paul. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank: my advisor, Jon Goss, for his tireless efforts over the past year. From the beginning stages of the thesis proposal to the final revision, Jon's comments, suggestions, and advice have been invaluable. I would also like to thank: Hong Jiang and Mary McDonald for their contributions as members of my committee. I am grateful for their insightful comments on earlier drafts of this thesis. vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1-1. The southern boundary of the DMZ ................................................................. 2 1-2. Die Another Day movie poster ......................................................................... 22 1-3. Stealth movie poster ......................................................................................... 23 1-4. Joint Security Area movie poster ..................................................................... 24 2-1. The Korean Demilitarized Zone ....................................................................... 32 2-2. The Bridge of No Return .................................................................................. 33 2-3. Panmunjom aod the Joint Security Area .......................................................... 35 2-4. North Koreao map with no DMZ or MDL ....................................................... 44 2-5. Maochuriao Craoes in the DMZ ....................................................................... 50 3-1. Mixing the future with the present ................................................................... 67 3-2. Lieutenaot Wade (Jessica Biel) in the North Koreao village ........................... 74 3-3. The primitive North Korean village ................................................................. 78 3-4. The disfigured Zao (Rick Yune) ....................................................................... 84 3-5. Colonel Moon's headquarters in the DMZ ....................................................... 88 3-6. James Bond (pierce Brosnao) pilots a hovercraft through the DMZ ............... 90 3-7. Graves (Toby Stephens) tries to impress his father (Kenneth Tsaog) .............. 97 4-1. Sophie (Lee Young Ae) inspects the evidence ..... ...... ......... ...... ................. ...... 105 4-2. Sergeant Lee (Lee Byung Hyun) limps across the Bridge of No Return ......... 109 4-3. The absence of a physical border in the laodscape ........................................... 115 4-4. Sergeaot Oh (Song Kaog Ho) at the border ...................................................... 119 5-1. The real JSA (left) compared to the reel JSA (right) ........................................ 133 5-2. (Real) North Koreaos looking through a window in the JSA ........................... 140 vii CHAPTERl INTRODUCTION President Bill Clinton labeled the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) "one of the scariest places in the world" during one of his official visits to Asia (Dudley, 2003: 18). In the age of globalization there are indeed very few places wherein a high ranking government official can stand toe-to-toe with a heavily-armed enemy of more thao fifty years, a reminder for all that the Cold War literally never ended on one of its fronts. How did the buffer zone, which has fulfilIed its intended purpose of preventing further significaot military engagement between North aod South Korea, become this "scary place" on the margin? How does Bill Clinton's categorization aod representation of the DMZ compare to other representations? On July 27, 1953 General Mark W. Clark of the United States Army, Kim n Sung' of North Korea, aod Peng Teh-huai of the Chinese Volunteers signed the armistice agreement, formally ceasing all combat operations which had relentlessly devastated the Korean countryside aod urbao centers for three years (Fehrenbach, 1998). The truce agreement included the creation of a demilitarized zone--a swath of uninhabited territory four kilometers wide, stretching more thao 243 kilometers from the west coast to the east coast (Bartz, 1972). At the center of the DMZ lies the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), perfectly preserving the actual line of contact between opposing forces when the 1 Korean names generally contain three syllables. The fin;t syllable is the fimrlly name, and the two remaining syllables comprise the given name. Many times in English language documents, Korean names are written with the given name fin;! and