The Face Reader (2013)

Original title

관상

Directed by

Han Jae-rim

Genre

drama film

Country

South Korea

Runtime

2h 20m

Rated

R18+

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 106 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man with a talent for reading people's faces through physiognomy gets drawn into a power struggle among Joseon royalty. He uses his skill to navigate court politics between a ambitious prince and a loyal general.

historicaltensedramaticmethodicalintriguingpoliticalatmospheric

What happens

The Face Reader (Korean: 관상; RR: Gwansang; lit. 'Physiognomy') is a 2013 South Korean period action drama film starring Song Kang-ho as the son of a disgraced noble family who goes around Joseon as a gwansang expert. He is able to assess the personality, mental state and habits of a person by looking at their face. His talents bring him to the royal courts where he becomes involved in a power struggle between Grand Prince Suyang and general Kim Jong-seo, a high-ranking loyalist to King Munjong. It is the first installment of the Jupiter Film's three-part film project on the Korean fortune-telling traditions and was followed by two sequels, The Princess and the Matchmaker and Feng Shui in 2018. The Face Reader became one of the highest-grossing films in South Korea in 2013, with 9.1 million admissions. It won six awards at the 50th Grand Bell Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Han Jae-rim, and Best Actor for Song Kang-ho. This film is Lee Jong-suk's only historical project to date. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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