The Face Reader – Review

In 1450s Joseon, Nae-kyung (Song) is a big drinker who also has a hidden gift. He can read peoples’ details, especially facial queues, and discern most everything about the person, their character and their level of honesty. This makes some money, but mostly his life is one of sleeping off a hangover in a small shack, along with his brother-in-law Paeng-heon (Jo) and son Jin-hyeong (Lee Jong-suk).

As his talents are discovered by Yeon-hong (Kim), an amateur courtesan, who senses his skills could change the world. As Nae-kyung is roped into a world of royalty, paranoia, distrust, politics and murder, all bets are off. What happens when the Grand Prince Suyang (Lee Jung-jae) notices the man’s abilities?

The Face Reader is a bit long and winding, but it is an interesting tale of history and drama. With some strong actors anchoring its main roles, the film has a high-quality presentation, along with some gorgeous scenery and excellent sets and costumes. With authentic acting and a grand visual presentation, the technical merits allow one to sink into the story.

Pacing may be a touch slow for some viewers that want more of an action epic, but if an interesting story is what you are after this will present that. With two large powers fighting in the country daily, the government and political struggles make for a good stage to back a tense tale of royal infighting and succession.

While a few of the main characters start out as a bit hapless in almost a comedic sense, the film finds its rhythm as plots advance. There is a very interesting core idea with the face reading and it injects a nice “detective” element to the story, almost Sherlock Holmes-esque. Throwing this in with political turmoil and tension makes perfect sense and creates an enthralling picture.