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The 2014-2015 Korean drama, starring Seo In-Guk as Gwang-Hae, Jo Yoon-Hee as Kim Ga-Hee, Lee Sung-Jae as King Seon-Jo, and Shin Sung-Rok as Kim Do-Chi.
Brief summary: Warned by a face reader that his face would bring calamity to his kingdom if he took the throne, King Seon-Jo has since kept face readers close by trying to use their skill for his own reign. But his son Gwang-Hae is determined (along with the rebel leader Kim Do-Chi and the bold lady Kim Ga-Hee) to show his father and his country what real leadership looks like, even if he has to learn face-reading himself.
This historical drama had a premise that I found interesting, or rather that I was interested in how the drama would interpret physiognomy into the plot. Although the cast were all good choices, this drama was a little lacking altogether.
I think what turned me off the most was the music. That melodramatic piano was just too heavy. It was distracting! I wanted to get into the feels of the story but that piano would come in and all I could think about was how soapy it sounded. Although this could be characteristic of many historical dramas produced between 2011 and 2014, I think music choice could have been improved here.
The progress of the story was a bit slow as well. A lot of complaints about this drama were about how boring the middle episodes were. By episode 13, the characters were still facing the same problem with the King’s inferiority complex. The protagonists were climbing toward their goal, but we didn’t see much planning or action on that planning. Even Kim Do-Chi’s plans kept getting thwarted again and again by little things and not much ended up happening.
I might add: there’s not much hope for the love line. I gave up early and the finale was just finally putting an end to it all.
But there were a few things that certainly interested me.
First, physiognomy may or may not be complete bologna. In this setting, it is defined as “the supposed art of judging character from facial characteristics” (dictionary). It deserves more research, but from what I gathered briefly it’s something that has been around anciently and in Middle Age Europe. More lately, physiognomy is being looked at again because of technological advances in artificial intelligence and facial recognition. I find it interesting enough that I’d like to read a book on it, but it only looks like a pseudoscience for now.
Second, Kim Do-Chi’s character. I actually kind of liked him. He was intriguing. He seemed to be the only one with clear purpose, even if he was determined to get rid of anyone who stood in his way. I would have liked to see his part of the story take another direction, one that would have made him shine more or accomplish some form of his dreams.
Third, the drama talks frequently about “fate.” The characters define it as “what will happen no matter how hard you try to avoid it” or “the heavens’ will as it happens,” but what is it really? Is fate predestined or is it made? Is it a path prepared for us or do we pave that path step by step with our own choices? I’ve seen, read, and heard all sorts of interpretations of “fate” in media, sometimes intertwined with a story and sometimes not, but none of them seem to agree on what fate is or how we find it. Personally, I tend to steer away from the idea of destiny and instead see fate as the eventually consequence of what we do or not do, but what do you think?
This drama could have been better. The story could have been rewritten to give the beginning, middle, climax, and finale much more progress and structure as a plot. I think if this were so, even without changing major script events, we could have been much more satisfied by the end. Instead, it looked like 23 episodes of historical characters grasping at straw to fix a problem they had trouble describing in the first place. The King’s Face wasn’t exactly my cup of tea in terms of entertainment, but it’s an alright choice for historical value and watching Seo In-Guk in an earlier lead role. 3/5 stars.
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