The Face Reader
Director: Han Jae-rim
Year: 2013
Rating: 7.5
Country: Korea
Produced
by the same company Jupiter Film as The Princess and the Matchmaker, this
looks to initially be following a similar storyline except instead of an
astrologer getting involved in court intrigue, this time it is a Face Reader
being in the middle of court betrayals in the Joseon dynasty. A Face
Reader is studied and adept at being able to look at a man's face and tell
his character and by telling his character, his future. One once read mine
and said I have no character which was a relief. This film begins as a light
comedy, gives you a hug, a peck on the cheek and then stabs you in the back
and throws you down a well. It comes out of right field, and I was not expecting
it. The slow build-up in a much too long film at 140-minutes is like sliding
down an ice hill - gathering speed as it goes along till you hit the bottom
with a stone wall waiting for you. Something I actually did as a child and
I have the scar on my forehead to prove it. It gets very tense, primarily
because you just don't see it coming. Two of Korea's top male actors lead
the way - Song Kang-ho as the Face Reader and Lee Jung-jae as an ambitious
Prince - and both give excellent performances. When does Song Kang-ho (Memories
of Murder, Parasite, The Host) not.
Nae-kyung (Song) lives in poverty out in
the country with the brother (Jo Jung-suk) of his dead wife and his son (Lee
Jong-suk). His father was a traitor and the family has been forbidden from
ever taking a government position. Yeon-hong (Kim Hue-su) finds them and
asks Nae-kyung to come work for her with his special skills. She is the Madame
of a high-class brothel and one of her side businesses is doing face readings.
The son Jin-hyeong wants to work in the government and so leaves for the
capital city under an assumed name. Nae-kyung and Paeng-heon decide to follow
and work for the Madame. And their fate leads them down a dark bloody road.
Nae-kyung is able to determine who a murderer
is from his weasel face and this so impresses a court official that he is
given the job of looking at government applicants and determining their righteousness.
But this is just the beginning. The King is sure that someone around him
wants to kill him and take the throne and wants Nae-kyung to find out who.
But he has no success - everyone passes the test - but as he discovers one
of them fooled him - he had someone take his place. Prince Suyang who very
much wants to take the throne and is willing to do anything to do it. The
two parties - the Prince and the King's men joust back and forth trying to
outfox the other side with violence inches away. Not the Face Reader
I imagine, but the other Royal characters are based on fact as is much of
what happens. This gives it a really human face. Directed by Han Jae-rim,
it was a big success at the box office.
