Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자, Gwanghae: Wang-i Doen Namja, literally "Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King") is a 2012 South Korean period drama film directed by Choo Chang-min and starring Lee Byung-hun, Ryu Seung-ryong, and Han Hyo-joo. It was adapted into a 2013 stage play. In 2019 it was remade as a television series, The Crowned Clown.
King Gwanghae suspects someone is trying to poison him, so he orders Chief Secretary Heo Gyun to find someone who looks enough like him to trick the assassin. Heo Gyun finds Ha-sun, a clown who strongly resembles the king, and forces him to pretend to be the king. Things start to go wrong when the court start to notice how dramatically the king's personality has changed.
Contains examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Ha-sun is exiled, Heo Gyun is executed for treason, and Gwanghae is eventually deposed. The only thing that stops it being a complete Downer Ending is the writing at the end, which reveals Ha-sun-impersonating-Gwanghae helped his people by defying the Ming Dynasty and only taxing landowners.
- Blood from the Mouth: Sa-wol coughs up blood after taking the poison meant for Ha-sun.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Sa-wol dies in Ha-sun's arms.
- Distinguishing Mark: Gwanghae has a scar on his chest. This makes one of the servants suspicious when she sees there's no scar on Ha-sun's chest.
- Emergency Impersonation: Ha-sun has to impersonate the king.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sa-wol eats the poisoned sweet she was supposed to put in Ha-sun's food.
- Historical Domain Character: Most of the main characters, with the notable exception of Ha-sun.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The real Gwanghae
was a relatively decent king whose main fault was losing the struggle for power and being villified after his overthrow. The film's version of Gwanghae is much more villainous. - Identical Stranger: Gwanghae and Ha-sun, obviously.
- Oh, Crap!: Ha-sun's reaction when he discovers the royal decree he's supposed to read is blank.
- Prince and Pauper: A variant since Ha-sun pretends to be the king, but the king doesn't pretend to be Ha-sun.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The writing at the end reveals Heo Gyun was executed a year after the film's events and Gwanghae was deposed five years later.
