Festival & World Cinema Movies:

Masquerade

The King of Facade
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Mature

Suitable for mature persons.

NOTE: Mature themes, violence and infrequent coarse language

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Description

Masquerade is a multi award winning 2012 South Korean historical film starring Lee Byung-hun in dual roles as the bizarre King Gwanghae, and acrobat Ha-sun, who stands in for the monarch when he faces the threat of being poisoned.

Joseon Dynasty, Korea. It’s unsettled times and the unpopular King Gwang-hae knows it. Paranoid others are plotting against him he is poisoned and taken gravely ill. In a remote location he hopes to convalesce. Now vulnerable he needs to deter further assassination attempts. In the meantime a comic, who satirises the royals, is hired as a surrogate to impersonate the king during his period of recovery.

In collaboration with the chief advisor the pair must fool the members of the court until the real king can regain his health. It’s not long, however, that the surrogate discovers the inequality and rampant corruption inherent in the ruling elite and commences to instigate some changes of his own.

Subtitled.

Awards

  • Won Baek Sang Art Awards for: Best Film, Best Director (2013)
  • Won Grand Bell Award Awards for: Best Film, Best Director, 10 other awards
  • Nominated for Blue Dragon Awards for: Best Film, Best Director, 9 other awards (2012)
  • Nominated Best Film, Asia-Pacific Film Festival (2012)

Masquerade Movie Reviews

“Following in the long tradition of lavish Asian epics, this new South Korean entry is a beautiful addition to the genre of period prince-and-the pauper themed films.” Film Threat

“Yes, Masquerade is at its heart the story of "The Prince and The Pauper,” one of the most retold tales of all time. What elevates this particular adaptation are its historical roots (King Gwang-he was a real monarch) and Byung-hun Lee's performance. At first, when Ha-seon is commanded to take the place of the king, he's complacent, not questioning too much and just content to earn the money he's promised. However, when it becomes clear he's going to have to adopt the role full-time, there comes a farcical period in the film where Ha-seon struggles with the myriad of customs the court adopts. If Lee didn't commit to those scenes wholeheartedly, the film would fall apart. Since he does, we are able to connect and laugh with him on his journey. One of the smartest things the writers did was to show King Gwang-he for only the amount of time necessary to establish his character. The audience has a basic understanding of what goes on during the monarch's day, and we have the backstory of the king's storyline: his brother-in-law is suspected of treason and there are forces within the court that would see the king killed. So when Ha-seon is thrown into the role of monarch we understand a bit about what is expected. One of the things which is expected is a certain amount of distance from everyone, including his Queen (Han Hyo-Joo, Love 911), the captain of his guard, Do (Kim In-Kwon, Almost Che), and his servants. However, we know Ha-seon is a compassionate man; we've seen him shed tears for someone else's suffering, so we know he's not a distant person. That's where Masquerade begins to shift the story from a comedic fish out of water tale to the story of a man who uses his power to help his people. The journey is a joy to watch…" DVD Verdict

Masquerade” is an all-around, solid period drama, mixing sweeping historical politics with occasional humor, rich character drama, and a dose of action added in for good measure. The performance of Lee Byung-Hun is reason enough to offer the film your valuable time..Highly Recommended." DVD Talk

“..one of the best Korean historical dramas of the last few years, a fine piece of palace intrigue that shows Lee Byung Hun on excellent form along with the rest of the cast and director Choo Chang Min. The only thing that lets it down somewhat is the over-familiarity of the story, though this doesn’t detract too much from the overall entertainment value or the gripping intricacies of the plot.” Beyond Hollywood.com

“It's that kind of production that's big in scale and ambition, and delivered on all counts. Masquerade deserves all the critical and commercial success gone its way and more” A Nutshell Review

“As predictable as these stories invariably are, Lee's wonderful turn reignites the potent fantasy of peasant wisdom – if given the power – melting politically cynical hearts and legislating through decency rather than fear.” LA Times

Release date Australia
November 20th, 2013
Number of Discs
1
Length (Minutes)
127
Aspect Ratio
  • 2.35 : 1
Language
Korean
Subtitles
English
Supported Audio
  • Dolby Digital Surround 5.1
Country of Production
  • South Korea
Genre
Movie Format
DVD Region
  • Region 4
Original Release Year
2012
Box Dimensions (mm)
135x190x10
UPC
9333723003050
Product ID
21721687

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