Masquerade
Gwanghae, wangyidoen namja
Directed by:
Chang-min ChooCinematography:
Tae-yoon LeeCast:
Byeong-heon Lee, Hyo-joo Han, Seung-ryong Ryoo, Joon-hyuk Lee, Eun-Kyung Shim, Myeong-gon Kim, Kwang Jang, Yong-goo Do, El Lee, Soon-woong Yoo, Jong-gu Kim (more)Plots(1)
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. (Accent Film Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (1)
I'll try to take this sort of soberly and not burden you unnecessarily with a list of every flattering adjective I can think of. And believe me, I can think of a lot of them. Although I never expected to notice anything other than Byeong-heon, I was absolutely thrilled by how brilliantly and unobtrusively they managed to blend drama with the comedy. One moment I was laughing at the double's antics, and the next I was busy holding back tears at his self-sacrifice. An excellent script and beautiful music and cinematography make this a truly excellent big screen film. It's clear as day, 5 stars.
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