The Face Reader (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Jae-rim Han (Rules of Dating)
	Actors: Kang-ho Song (Memories of Murder, The Host, Snowpiercer), Jung-Jae Lee, Yun-shik Baek
	Country: ROK
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 02.05.2014, Teatro Nuvo, FEFF2014
Synopsis: The best face reader of the country (Song) is hired to work in the big city. His talents attract the political class.
Review: I was really not motivated to go and watch this movie, it being a 2h20 long Korean period drama in costumes. I already have too many DVDs of such movies at home that I am not motivated to watch. But I am glad I found the courage to watch it. I may have been too disappointed by Japanese or Chinese period dramas, with endless fights against clans poorly choreographed. This Korean one is rather different. First it revolves around the excellent Kang-ho Song who brings with him his usual comedy side (he even has a sidekick in the person of his brother-in-law for better comic effect), but can also show that he can be a good dramatic actor. We see too rarely this side of his acting. Then the story is not so much about large scale combats, but more day-to-day life in 16th Century Korea, and the political game of power that was taking place at the time. All of it introduced thanks to the intriguing idea of the face reader expert (Song), which is in the end no more than the viewer's point of contact to enter this otherwise distant world. Costumes and landscapes are good-looking, and there are only a few scenes that I felt were too long. A pleasant surprise.
Rating: 6 /10