CJ Entertainment America
and Inception Media Group
present
Masquerade / Gwanghae, Wangyidoen namja
Directed by Choo Chang-min
South Korea, 2012, 132 minutes
Political intrigue, betrayal, peril and forbidden romance play out in the lavish, critically acclaimed historical drama Masquerade, which is set in the royal palace of Korea’s ancient Joseon Dynasty. The Region 1 DVD of the film will be debuting on June 11 from CJ Entertainment America (distributed by Inception Media Group).
Amid national chaos and fear for his life, tyrannical King Gwanghae (Byung-hun Lee, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Red 2) orders his trusted counselor to find a royal body double. He recruits a crude, working-class peasant, Ha-seon (Lee in a dual role), a village performer who bears a startling resemblance to the ruler.
When the king falls into a coma from poisoning, he is secreted away to recover and Ha-seon reluctantly assumes the throne, forced to pull off history’s biggest masquerade. Narrowly evading exposure or yet another assassination attempt by his power-hungry court, he stumbles through his daily rituals and onerous royal duties … covertly coached by the king’s stoic chief advisor and chief eunuch.
Soon, however, Ha-seon finds he must follow his own heart – no matter what the price – to save his country from collapse and its oppressed people from despair.
Inspired by the true premise of 15 days that are mysteriously missing from the recorded annals of the Chosun Dynasty, Masquerade has received widespread critical acclaim in the U.S. and broke box office records in Korea, grossing nearly $161.5 million worldwide (including nearly $1 million in the U.S.).
The film also swept the 49th Daejong Film Awards, Korea’s equivalent of the Oscars, held in October, winning 15 Grand Bell awards out of 20 possible categories, including “Best Film,” “Best Director” (Choo Chang-min), “Best Actor” (Lee), “Best Supporting Actor” (Ryoo Seung-ryong), “Best Screenplay,” “Best Production,” “Best Costume Design” and “Best Music.”
Masquerade is presented in widescreen 16x9 (aspect ratio: 2.35:1) and 5.1 Dolby Digital sound with English dub and subtitles. Special features, which run a total of approximately 40 minutes, include: “Lighting and Cinematography” and “Production Design” featurettes, deleted scenes and trailers.
