''Masquerade'' () is a 2012 South Korean

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

film starring

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably '' Joint Security Area'' (2000); '' A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); '' The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' (2008) ...

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as the bizarre King Gwanghae and the humble acrobat Ha-sun, who stands in for the monarch when he faces the threat of being poisoned. With 12.3 million tickets sold, ''Masquerade'' is the ninth highest-grossing South Korean film. Also, it swept the 49th Grand Bell Awards, winning in 15 categories, including Best Film, Director, Screenplay and Actor.

Plot

The confusing and conspiratorial 15th ruler of Korea's

Joseon Dynasty Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

King Gwang-hae (

) orders his Secretary of Defense,

Heo Gyun Heo is a family name in Korea. It is also often spelled as Huh or Hur, or less commonly as Her or Hue. In South Korea in 1985, out of a population of between roughly 40 and 45 million, there were approximately 264,000 people surnamed Heo. The na ...

( Ryu Seung-ryong), to find him a double in order to avoid the constant threat of assassination. In constant fear of being poisoned, the king becomes obnoxious and threatens everyone around him, including the kitchen maids. Heo gyun finds Ha-sun, a lowly acrobat and bawdy joker who looks remarkably like the king to replace the king occasionally whenever the king is out of the palace. In few days, just as feared, King Gwang-hae is drugged with Poppy by his favorite consort, conspired by the law minister. Heo Gyun proposes Ha-sun fill the role as the king until King Gwang-hae fully recovers and grooms Ha-sun to look and act like the king. While assuming the role of the king at his first official appearance, Ha-sun begins to ponder the intricacies of the problems debated in his court. Being fundamentally more humanitarian than King Gwang-hae, Ha-sun's affection and appreciation of even the most minor servants slowly changes morale in the palace for the better. Over time he finds his voice and takes control of governing the country with real insight and fair judgments. Even Heo Gyun and the Chief Eunuch are moved by Ha-sun's genuine concern for the people, and realize he is a better ruler than Gwang-hae. Ha-sun even fights for the respect of the Queen's safety and protects her and her brother from death sentences. However, his chief opposition, Park Chung-seo ( Kim Myung-gon), notices the sudden shift in the king's behavior and starts to ask questions. The queen ( Han Hyo-joo) is also conflicted between the real king and the fake king's secret. The Chief Eunuch and the Secretary of Defense ask Ha-sun to leave the country for good. The king was again brought back to the throne to punish the revolts.

Cast

as King Gwanghae/Ha-sun * Ryu Seung-ryong as Chief Secretary

* Han Hyo-joo as Queen Consort Yoo * Jang Gwang as Chief Eunuch Jo * Kim In-kwon as Captain Do, the king's personal bodyguard * Shim Eun-kyung as Sa-wol, a food taster * Park Ji-a as Chief Court Lady Han * Shin Jung-geun as Lee Jung-rang * Kim Myung-gon as Interior Minister Park Chung-seo *Jeon Guk-hyang as Court Lady Jeong *Yang Joon-mo as Kim Joo-seo *Moon Chang-gil as the Left state councillors * Jeon Bae-soo as Hyung-pan *Do Yong-goo as Byung-pan *Yoo Soon-woong as Ho-pan *Lee Yang-hee as Gong-pan *Park Kyung-geun as a musician *Shin Woon-sup as Ye-pan *Kim Jong-goo as Gwanghae's royal physician * Lee El as Lady Ahn Gae-shi * Lee Joon-hyuk as a Lord *Seo Jin-won as General Overseer Do *Kim Hye-won as

Courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

Pearl *Kim Hak-joon as Yoo Jung-ho, Queen Yoo's father *Kim Hye-hwa as Plum Blossom Pot servant *Kim Seung-hoon as Yi-bang *

Lee Bong-ryun Lee Bong-ryun (; born February 7, 1981), birth name Lee Jeong-eun, is a South Korean actress. She has appeared in supporting roles in various films and television dramas, and worked as a stage and musical actress. Early life Lee Bong-ryun was ...

as court woman 1 *Kwon Bang-hyun as court woman 2 *Lee Ran-hee as court woman 3 *Lee Soo-yong as Kal Ja-gook *Kim Gil-dong as a Military officer * Kwon Eun-soo as Gwanghae's court lady *Seo Eun-jung as Gwanghae's court lady *Joo Young-ho as Gwanghae's astrologist 1 *Jo Sung-hee as Gwanghae's astrologist 2 *Min Jung-gi as Gwanghae's eunuch *Kim Bi-bi as Queen Yoo's maid

Background

Historically, Gwanghae, the 15th

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

king from 1608 to 1623, attempted diplomacy through neutrality as China's

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(1368–1644) and

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(1644–1912) set their sights on the country. He also tried his hand at other reforms and reconstruction to try to make the nation prosperous, including an emphasis on the restoration of documents, but met with opposition and was later deposed and exiled to

Jeju Island Jeju Island (Jeju language, Jeju/) is South Korea's largest island, covering an area of , which is 1.83% of the total area of the country. Alongside outlying islands, it is part of Jeju Province and makes up the majority of the province. The i ...

. Since he was deposed in a coup by the Westerners faction, historians did not give him a

temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...

like Taejo or

Sejong Sejong (; 15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as the greatest ruler in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangul, the n ...

. The premise behind the film is an interpretation of the missing 15 days in the Seungjeongwon ilgi or Journal of the Royal Secretariat during Gwanghae's reign—designated by his 1616 journal entry, "One must not record that which he wishes to hide." That premise is entirely fictitious in nature. This is because * The Journal in itself is largely incomplete due to records being destroyed several times and reproductions of the destroyed documents also eventually being destroyed, leading to large missing chunks of records or questionable reproductions that may or may not have been edited every subsequent reproduction. * Relevant records written during the reign of Gwanghae are also largely missing. * Even if the Journal were complete, it is highly unlikely the Secretariat would delete or omit records, even by order of the King due to protocol. In fact, due to that same protocol the only thing that would happen is that after having received word or having witnessed a certain incident and subsequently ordered to not record it, the Secretariat would record the incident in full and finish the entry stating the King ordered him not to do so. * A prime example of the above would be when Taejong fell off his horse when hunting one day and asked the Secretariat to not record this in the journal. The Secretariat however went and recorded the incident and ended his entry with 'and His Majesty asked that the Secretariat not record this'

Production

Announced in early 2011 and initially titled ''I am the King of Joseon'', ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot conce ...

''-inspired historical film was to be directed by Kang Woo-suk and star Jung Jae-young as Gwanghae/Ha-sun and Yoo Jun-sang as Heo Gyun, but Kang left the project over differences of opinion with production firm

CJ E&M CJ ENM Entertainment Division (), formerly known as CJ E&M, is a South Korean entertainment and mass media division (formerly company) of CJ ENM. In July 2018, the company merged with the parent company's subsidiary CJ O Shopping, with the latte ...

. In November 2011, they were replaced by director Choo Chang-min and actor

in his first ever historical film. A month later, Han Hyo-joo was cast as Lee's co-star. The film was shot at the Namyangju Studio Complex in

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

Reception

Called by one review as one of the best South Korean

costume drama Costume is the distinctive style of clothing, dress and/or cosmetics, makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used ...

s in years, the film drew praise for being beautifully written and emotionally involving, as well as for its accomplished acting, sure-handed direction, ambitious scale and commercial appeal. It became the second biggest hit film at the 2012 South Korean box office, attracting 8.2 million admissions in 25 days of release, then 9,091,633 after 31 days. On its 38th day, it became the 7th film in Korean cinema history to surpass the 10 million-milestone attendance. At the end of its theatrical run it was listed as Korea's all-time third highest-grossing film with 12,319,542 tickets sold nationwide (as of April 2015, it is currently sixth).

Adaptations

In theater

The film was adapted into a stage play which ran at Seoul's Dongsoong Art Center from February 23 to April 21, 2013. It was produced by

's agency BH Entertainment. Bae Soo-bin and musical theatre actor Kim Do-hyun alternated in the lead role of Gwanghae. As part of the promotion for the play, Lee, Bae and Kim were featured in a photo spread in the inaugural issue of '' Grazia Korea'', published on February 20, 2013.

In television

Cable network tvN acquired rights for a television adaptation, starring Yeo Jin-goo. Developed for the station by

Studio Dragon Studio Dragon Corporation () is a South Korean Korean drama, drama production, marketing and distribution company under CJ ENM CJ ENM Entertainment Division, Entertainment Division. It was established on May 3, 2016, as a Corporate spin-off, sp ...

and produced by GT:st, it is to air in January 2019.

In other media

South Korean rapper Agust D draws from the film in his 2020 track Daechwita. The lyrics reference King Gwanghae, as well as rising through the ranks from poverty and servitude to become a king, while in the accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

Agust D portrays a scarred Joseon tyrant, confronted by a modern doppelganger.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
''Masquerade''
at

Naver Naver (; stylized as NAVER) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. The company's products include a search engine, email hosting, blogs, maps, and mobile payment. History Naver was the first Korean web provide ...

{{Paeksang Arts Award Best Film 2012 films 2010s historical drama films South Korean historical drama films South Korean political drama films Films about politicians Films based on The Prince and the Pauper Films set in the 15th century Films set in Joseon Films set in Seoul Films directed by Choo Chang-min Best Picture Grand Bell Award winners 2010s Korean-language films CJ Entertainment films Gwanghaegun of Joseon 2012 drama films 2010s political drama films 2010s South Korean films