General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

The Face Reader (관상)

The Face Reader (관상, Gwansang, literal title Physiognomy) is a 2013 South Korean period drama directed by Han Jae-rim about a Joseon-dynasty face reader who becomes entangled in the 1455 seizure of the throne by Grand Prince Suyang, later King Sejo¹^•². Starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Jung-jae, Baek Yoon-sik, Kim Hye-soo, Lee Jong-suk, and Jo Jung-suk, it drew more than 9 million admissions and dominated the 50th Grand Bell Awards, winning six prizes including Best Film¹^•³.

Key fact	Detail
Original title	관상 (Gwansang); English title The Face Reader, literal title Physiognomy²
Release	South Korea, September 11, 2013; United States, October 4, 2013¹^•⁴
Director and writers	Han Jae-rim; screenplay by Kim Dong-hyuk and Han Jae-rim²
Runtime	139 minutes (Cine21 lists 142 minutes)¹^•⁵
Box office	9,135,853 admissions and $47,823,329 gross on 1,240 screens (KOFIC figure as of September 16, 2026)¹
Principal cast	Song Kang-ho (Nae-kyeong), Lee Jung-jae (Grand Prince Suyang), Baek Yoon-sik (Kim Jong-seo), Kim Hye-soo (Yeon-hong), Lee Jong-suk (Jin-hyeong), Jo Jung-suk (Paeng-heon)²
Major awards	Six wins from 11 nominations at the 50th Grand Bell Awards (2013), including Best Film³
Production	Jupiter Film, distributed by Showbox²

Spoilers

Plot and setting

The film is set in fifteenth-century Joseon, in the years leading to Sejo's seizure of the throne in 1455². Nae-kyeong, the son of a ruined noble family, has studied physiognomy, the practice of assessing a person's character and future from the face; he can judge personality, mental state, and habits by looking at someone⁶^•².

Living in seclusion in the mountains with his son Jin-hyeong and his brother-in-law Paeng-heon, Nae-kyeong is drawn back to the capital Hanyang by Yeon-hong, a gisaeng (a courtesan and entertainer) who offers him lucrative work reading the faces of her guests⁷^•⁸. After solving a murder case with his skill, he gains a reputation in the capital, and the vice premier Kim Jong-seo appoints him to the government's Inspection Board to help identify talented people¹.

During his inspections Nae-kyeong discovers that Grand Prince Suyang, the king's ambitious uncle, is plotting to take the throne from his young nephew, King Danjong, after the unexpected death of King Munjong¹^•⁸. Nae-kyeong keeps faith with the late king and joins Kim Jong-seo in trying to protect the young ruler, which places him at the center of the power struggle between Suyang and Kim Jong-seo⁶^•⁸.

Cast and performances

The film uses an ensemble cast pairing established stars with younger actors. Song Kang-ho, who had worked with Han Jae-rim on The Show Must Go On (2007), plays the face reader Nae-kyeong; Lee Jung-jae plays Grand Prince Suyang; Baek Yoon-sik plays the general and chief minister Kim Jong-seo; Kim Hye-soo plays the gisaeng Yeon-hong; Lee Jong-suk plays Jin-hyeong; and Jo Jung-suk plays Paeng-heon⁷^•².

Reviewers highlighted the cast as a central asset. Screen Daily called the choice and management of the cast one of the film's greatest assets, a successful trend in Korean cinema following The Thieves (2012) of combining established names with younger ones to reach a wider demographic⁹. The AsianMovieWeb review found Lee Jung-jae's villain often outshining Song Kang-ho, while praising Baek Yoon-sik's supporting work¹⁰.

Box office and reception

Released on September 11, 2013 during the Chuseok holiday season, the film followed the previous year's hit Masquerade in the market for large-scale period dramas¹⁰. Screen Daily reported shortly after release that it had amassed over $52.5 million from some 7.7 million admissions; the KOFIC database records final totals of 9,135,853 admissions on 1,240 screens and $47,823,329 in gross⁹^•¹. Cine21's count of 9,134,976 admissions differs by fewer than a thousand from the KOFIC figure⁵.

Criticism was largely favorable but not unanimous. Screen Daily called it a gloriously sumptuous period drama that demonstrated Han's craftsmanship across genres⁹. AsianMovieWeb praised the intrigue, dialogue, and characterization while faulting the screenplay for unfocusedness toward the end and a melodramatic conclusion that it judged too long at 138 minutes¹⁰. Cine21's critic scores averaged 6.00 out of 10, with audience scores of 7.40⁵.

Awards

At the 50th Grand Bell (Daejong) Awards, held on November 1, 2013, the film received 11 nominations and won six trophies: Best Film, Best Director (Han Jae-rim), Best Actor (Song Kang-ho, shared with Ryu Seung-ryong of Miracle in Cell No. 7), the Hana Financial Group Popularity Award (Lee Jung-jae), Best Supporting Actor (Jo Jung-suk), and Best Costume Design (Shim Hyun-seop)³. The Best Actor prize was Song Kang-ho's third Grand Bell Award, after wins for JSA: Joint Security Area (2001) and Memories of Murder (2004)¹¹.

At the Blue Dragon Awards the film was nominated for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor, with Lee Jung-jae winning Best Supporting Actor¹². The 2014 Paeksang (Baek Sang) Arts Awards gave Lee Jung-jae its Best Supporting Actor film prize¹. The Korean Association of Film Critics named it one of the Films of the Year and awarded Song Kang-ho Best Actor, Jo Jung-suk Best Supporting Actor, and Lee Byung-woo Best Music¹². IMDb counts 17 wins and 28 nominations across all bodies¹².

Later circulation

The film continued to appear at international festivals for years after release, including the Udine Far East Film Festival and New York Asian Film Festival (2014), the Vancouver Korean Film Festival (2018), the London East Asia Film Festival (2019), the Buenos Aires Korean Film Festival (2020), the Fajr International Film Festival (2021), and a Lee Jung-jae retrospective at the Florence Korea Film Fest in 2022¹. It streams with English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese subtitles on platforms such as Viki, where it holds a user rating of 8.8¹³.

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › War and historical films (individual works) › Historical dramas and epics › Titles symbols to L › Titles En to L

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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