MASQUERADE
The Man Who Would Be King
What You Need To Know
A poisoned king is temporarily replaced by a look-alike jester in the South Korean historical comedy MASQUERADE. It’s a comical, heartfelt entertainment, but there is some crude content, brief but strong violence, and other objectionable elements, so caution is advised.
The movie opens in 1616. The imperious king of the 15th Joseon Dynasty in Korea ordering his chief secretary to find an imposter so he can visit his mistress at night sometimes. Ha-sun, a jester working in the local brothel who resembles the king, makes fun of the king to entertain the guests. He’s brought before the king, who approves of the choice.
After the first night posing as the king in the palace, the king is poisoned with a poppy drug that puts him into a deep coma. The chief secretary scrambles to train Ha-sun so he can make the public appearances required by the king. A series of comical public appearances follow. Also, Ha-sun is comically amused at all the fuss that the people at the court, including the servants, make to serve the king.
As the king’s coma lengthens, Ha-sun begins to show mercy to the servants and his subjects with commands and decrees. He also falls in love with the Queen, the king’s estranged wife, though he doesn’t really act on it other than writing her a poem. However, when the king wakes up, will Ha-sun get any mercy for himself? Or will the king try to cover up the masquerade by having him killed?
MASQUERADE (known as THE MAN WHO BECAME KING in South Korea) has a well-worn plot. However, this entertaining historical epic, which is more of a comedy than anything else, is sumptuously produced. Also, the cast, led by Byung-Hun Lee in the double role of king and jester, is superb. MASQUERADE makes a moral statement against oppression and cruelty. This content comes with some politically correct content about taxing rich landowners, brief foul language, strong violence in three scenes, and some scatological content. Also, there is no mention of faith or religion one way or the other. So, caution is advised. See the CONTENT section for details.
