Masquerade

Masquerade

Released: September 13, 2012

"One does not record what one wishes to hide"

Masquerade, directed by Choo Chang-min, tells the story of a king, King Gwanghee who falls ill, and a Jester, Ha Sun, who is asked to pose by the King's Chief Secretary, Heo Gyun, until the King recovers. Taking the role as King, Ha Sun begins to learn the responsibility King Gwanghee has and through training to become a King he creates his own voice. Ha Sun, at first was hesitate and did not think it would be possible, but with the support of Chief Secretary, he decided to help out the King. Ha Sun realizes that to be King, is harder than one expects. In time and through trial and error, Ha Sun seems to be doing fine.

As time passes however, people on the King’s council begin to notice things differently. As things become more apparent, the King council notices that Ha Sun is not the real King.

As the music picks up, and you feel your heart begin to race, the intensity of keeping the secret keeps you off your feet. You hope that Ha Sun escapes and does not get caught.

After viewing the film, compared to the other films that I have watched in this class it was not one of my favorites. I think since this film was the foundation for the future films we began viewing, watching the other films after, I began to understand more about the Joseon Era through film and the readings. The readings we read, did not really prepare us for the films, but they do shed light of what went on during the time period or suggests what people were influenced to write about.