''Masquerade'' (; lit. ''Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King'') is a 2012 South Korean

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

film starring

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical 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'' ...

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 (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

King Gwang-hae (

) orders his Secretary of Defense,

Heo Gyun Heo Gyun (Hangul: ; Hanja: , 10 December 1569 – 12 October 1618) was a Korean novelist, poet, and politician during the Joseon period. He was also known by his pennames, Gyosan (교산 蛟山) and Seongso (성소 惺所). Life Heo Gyun was bo ...

(

Ryu Seung-ryong Ryu Seung-ryong (born November 29, 1970) is a South Korean actor. Ryu began his acting career in theater, subsequently becoming one of the most versatile supporting actors in Korean film and television. In 2013, he headlined '' Miracle in Cell N ...

), 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 Kim Myung-gon (born December 3, 1952) is a South Korean actor, screenwriter and music director. He is best known for starring in and writing the screenplay of Korean film classic ''Seopyeonje'', for which he won Best Actor at the 1993 Blue Drago ...

), notices the sudden shift in the king's behavior and starts to ask questions. The queen (

Han Hyo-joo Han Hyo-joo (Korean: 한효주; born February 22, 1987) is a South Korean film and television actress, model and singer. She is best known for her leading roles in television series such as ''Heaven & Earth'' (2007), '' Iljimae'' (2008), ''Brill ...

) 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

King Gwanghae Gwanghae-gun or Prince Gwanghae (4 June 1575 – 7 August 1641), personal name Yi Hon (Hangul: 이혼, Hanja: 李琿), was the 15th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. As he was deposed in a coup d'état, he did not receive a temple name. ...

/Ha-sun *

as Chief Secretary

as Queen Consort Yoo *

Jang Gwang Jang Gwang (born January 5, 1952) is a South Korean actor in film and television. Filmography Film * ''Taste of Horror – Gym for Residents'' (TBA) * '' Air Murder'' (2022) * '' Sinkhole (2021) * ''White Day: Broken Barrier'' (2021) * ...

as Chief Eunuch Jo *

Kim In-kwon Kim In-kwon (born January 20, 1978) is a South Korean actor. Known for playing memorable supporting characters, he starred in his first leading role in the sleeper hit ''He's on Duty'' (2010), followed by ''Almost Che'' (2012), '' Born to Sing'' ( ...

as Captain Do, the king's personal bodyguard *

Shim Eun-kyung Shim Eun-kyung (born May 31, 1994) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in the box office hits '' Sunny'' (2011), ''Miss Granny'' (2014) and ''Fabricated City'' (2017), as well as television series ''Naeil's Cantabile'' (2014). In 2020, s ...

as Sa-wol, a food taster *

Park Ji-a Park Ji-Ah (; born February 25, 1972), is a South Korean actress. She is a recurring actress in Kim Ki-duk's films, having appeared in five of his works from 2002 to 2008. Her performance in ''Breath'' was described as "terrific" by ''Variety'' a ...

as Chief Court Lady Han *

Shin Jung-geun Shin Jung-geun (born September 26, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He is most active as a supporting actor in films such as ''Running Turtle'' (2009), '' In Love and War'' (2011), ''The Grand Heist'' (2012), and '' The Five'' (2013), as well as t ...

as Lee Jung-rang *

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 Jeon Bae-soo (Korean: 전배수, born 2 June 1970) is a South Korean theatre, film and television actor. He is known for his supporting roles in various TV series and films. His better known works are: 2016 TV series ''The K2'', 2019 romantic c ...

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 Lee El (born Kim Ji-hyun on June 26, 1982) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her supporting roles in the film ''Inside Men'' (2015), the television series ''It's Okay, That's Love'', '' Guardian: The Lonely and Great God'' (2016� ...

as Lady Ahn Gae-shi * Lee Joon-hyuk as a Lord *Seo Jin-won as General Overseer Do *Kim Hye-won as

Courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

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 Lee Jeong-eun, February 7, 1981) 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 born as Lee ...

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 Kwon Eun-soo (born February 4, 1989) is a South Korean actress and model. She is best known for her lead roles in ''If You Were Me 4'' as So-young and ''Wild Flowers'' as Eun-soo. She also did a supporting role and appeared in the famous and pop ...

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 (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

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

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

(1368-1644) and

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(1636-1912) 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. 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 of Joseon (15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), personal name Yi Do (Korean: 이도; Hanja: 李祹), widely known as Sejong the Great (Korean: 세종대왕; Hanja: 世宗大王), was the fourth ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. Initial ...

. The premise behind the film is an interpretation of the missing 15 days in the

Seungjeongwon ilgi ''Seungjeongwon ilgi'' or ''Journal of the Royal Secretariat'' is a daily record of '' Seungjeongwon'', Royal Secretariat during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea (1392–1910), which records the king's public life and his interactions with the bureaucra ...

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 Taejong of Joseon (13 June 1367 – 8 June 1422), personal name Yi Bang-won (Korean: 이방원; Hanja: 李芳遠), was the third ruler of the Joseon dynasty of Korea and the father of King Sejong the Great. Before ascending to the throne, he wa ...

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. Set in 1547, ...

''-inspired historical film was to be directed by Kang Woo-suk and star

Jung Jae-young Jeong Jae-yeong (born Jeong Ji-hyeon; November 21, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He's best known for his roles in the critically acclaimed films '' Silmido'' (2003), ''Right Now, Wrong Then'' (2015), and '' On the Beach at Night Alone'' (2017). ...

as Gwanghae/Ha-sun and

Yoo Jun-sang Yoo Jun-sang (born November 28, 1969) is a South Korean actor and singer. Yoo is best known for starring in the Hong Sang-soo films '' Ha Ha Ha'' (2010), '' The Day He Arrives'' (2011), and '' In Another Country'' (2012). He was also praised for ...

as Heo Gyun, but Kang left the project over differences of opinion with production firm

CJ E&M CJ E&M (Hangul: 씨제이이앤엠, an initialism for CJ Entertainment & Media) is a South Korean entertainment and mass media company created by CJ Group in 2011. As of July 2018, CJ E&M is a division of CJ ENM. History CJ E&M was established a ...

. In November 2011, they were replaced by director

Choo Chang-min Choo Chang-min (born 1966) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His 2012 period film '' Masquerade'' became one of the top-grossing Korean films of all time. Career Choo Chang-min began his career as an assistant director on such ...

and actor

in his first ever historical film. A month later,

was cast as Lee's co-star. The film was shot at the Namyangju Studio Complex in

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

Reception

Called by one review as one of the best South Korean

costume drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

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 Bae Soo-bin (born Yoon Tae-wook on December 9, 1976), is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his roles in the television dramas ''Brilliant Legacy'', ''Temptation of an Angel'', ''49 Days'', and '' Dong Yi''. He also starred in the films ...

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 TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

acquired rights for a television adaptation, starring

Yeo Jin-goo Yeo Jin-goo (, born August 13, 1997) is a South Korean actor. Yeo began his career as a child actor, debuting in the film '' Sad Movie'' (2005). Nicknamed "Nation's Little Brother", he went on to play the younger characters of the lead roles in ...

. Developed for the station by

Studio Dragon Studio Dragon Corporation () is a South Korean drama production, marketing and distribution company under CJ ENM's E&M division. It was established on May 3, 2016, as a spin-off from E&M Media Content. The company joined the KOSDAQ index of Ko ...

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

In other media

South Korean rapper

Agust D ''Agust D'' is the debut mixtape by South Korean rapper Agust D, better known as Suga of boy-band BTS. It was released on August 15, 2016, by Big Hit Entertainment on SoundCloud. Background and development Prior to launching his career as th ...

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 of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

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

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * * * *
''Masquerade''
at

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

{{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 set in the 15th century Films set in the Joseon dynasty 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