Masquerade (2012) on Netflix
King Gwang-hae lives in fear of poison. His secretary Heo Gyun finds him a double: Ha-sun, an acrobat who looks like him. When the king collapses, Ha-sun takes the throne.
- Netflix4.2/5
- IMDb7.8/108,143 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes100%
Trailer
Plot summary
King Gwang-hae, the fifteenth ruler of Joseon, lives in fear of being poisoned and asks his secretary Heo Gyun to find a man who can stand in for him. Heo Gyun returns with Ha-sun, a peasant acrobat and joker whose face closely matches the king's, and the double is used when the king leaves the palace. The king is then drugged with poppy and collapses. With the court kept in the dark, Heo Gyun asks Ha-sun to occupy the throne until the king recovers, and trains him to look and behave like a king. Ha-sun makes his first official appearance before the assembled court, hearing the affairs of state debated in the king's name.
Cast
- Wook Choias Confucian Scholar 2
- Seung-wook Chooas Confucian Scholar 1
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Masquerade (2012)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's premise is an interpretation of the 15 days missing from the Seungjeongwon ilgi, or Journal of the Royal Secretariat, during King Gwanghae's reign—pointed to by his 1616 journal entry, "One must not record that which he wishes to hide"; the premise itself is entirely fictitious.
- Masquerade was first announced in 2011 as I am the King of Joseon, to be directed by Kang Woo-suk with Jung Jae-young as Gwanghae and Yoo Jun-sang as Heo Gyun, but Kang left over differences of opinion with CJ E&M; Lee Byung-hun, in his first historical film, and director Choo Chang-min replaced them.
- South Korean rapper Agust D drew on the film for his 2020 track Daechwita, whose lyrics reference King Gwanghae, and in its music video Agust D portrays a scarred Joseon tyrant confronted by a modern doppelganger.
