Man on High Heels is a good muscular and engaged dramatic thriller. Korean ingredients are there: it rains all the time, it fights with brutality and aestheticism, it cries, it laughs, it screams ... A little long and suffering from some weaknesses in the scenario, Man on High Heels is enough audacious and a damn good fist against man virility and machismo !
... View MoreThe title doesn't leave much to the imagination - and itself is a challenge - is this person a man dressing up, is this person a woman in transition, is this person being viewed or viewing themselves? The extreme violence (typical in a Korean movie) takes place against the backdrop of an individual undergoing gender re-assignment. Some of the lines in the movie were startling and revelatory 'We don't have surgery to become women - we become women so we can have the surgery'. Cha, who is an uber masculine star, really takes on this role with sensitivity and without comment. His emotions read wide, and there is no judgment against people in transition especially. The memory scenes are heartbreaking and tender, and ultimately the viewer is brought into the world of the question - including the ending, which leaves more questions than answers. This is a movie about one individual journey, and doesn't seem to pretend to preach about right or wrong choices. I am glad I finally watched it, and probably will watch it again and suggest it to others. I found it quite beautiful!
... View MoreThis movie makes my gay little heart very very happy. This one is especially a very good movie. I loved it because its captures very well the feeling and heartache of someone who was born in the wrong body.I actually think its very rare for to find a movie this good created from an Asian entertainment industry. Movies like this doesn't appealed much to mainstream audience. But its means the world to those that lives that life, a life that is not so easily accepted by society. I love every inch of the movie.The movie captured the pain of what it meant to be different, and to hide it, and live a double life. To be put on a mask to the world, and to hide your real self behind close doors. To suffer silently and to struggled with one identity. It depicted these emotions very well. It showed how LGBT individual are bullied, self harmed, and hold self hatred. Its depicts a man torned between his life as a man, and his desired to be true to himself, and become a women.One last thing, my favorite part of this movie is how it summed up a very special theme: We can't change. This things are intrinsic to our very heart and soul. Our sexuality and our identity is every part that make us complete.
... View MoreThe English title might be a bit of a spoiler if you will, but it might also prepare for what you are about to see. It's a very strange movie, mixing drama and action in a way, most might not have seen before. It flourishes and cherishes some unique small moments (which are very funny to say the least). It's moments that characters and especially mentality shine through in a big way.The theme itself will not speak to a mainstream audience obviously, because of what the main characters goes through. Despite that, this is a really good movie, that does not shy away from it's own subject matter and might leave viewers feel a bit uncomfortable too. Fight choreography is good
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