This film really reminded me of why I love Korean movies. But then again, this movie alone probably would stand out from its crowd; after all it has won Lee Hae-Jun and Lee Hae-Young the Best New Director Award at The 5th Korean Film Awards. And this was their debut as directors! Wow!!!
I like its simple story line, nothing too ambitious (the kind that tried too hard to give some holly messages), and even though the transgender or transsexual issues has been the seed of so many movies we’ve seen these days, Like A Virgin made me saw it as a new fresh side. I was hooked to every frame and was not willing for it to go without taking me along.
Even though--with the fabulous casts that they had--they can easily create a “serious” drama, I was glad that the directors stayed to the comedy instead; you'll see it instantly that they were totally in their element. Ryu Duk-Hwan was totally great, and not only because he had gained 20 kg for this role! He could really played out his character up to the tiniest flicker in her eyes—ups, I meant, his eyes ;-p
Ryu Duk-Hwan (you may remember him as the youngest North Korean soldier in Welcome To Dongmakgol, though he was so thin in that also great movie) was Oh Dong-Gu, a fat, short and average second year high school student, who seemed to have every possible way of unhappiness.
His father was a gold medal boxer who got injured and now living every day with drinking, swearing, hitting, hating life and himself. His mother had lived separately from them; avoiding her husband’s rages and pursuing a life that had been postponed when she got pregnant with Dong-Gu at a very young age. His younger brother was pretty much ignorant and tried to avoid their father as much as he could—Dong-Gu said to his mother on one of their meetings that he’s becoming more and more like their dad.
And if all of that were not enough, along with the peer pressure and stuffs, Oh Dong-Gu felt that he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. He was so inspired by Madonna and her song “Like a Virgin” and dreamed of becoming a superstar like her. So when other boys were busy doing part time jobs to buy, for example, a motorbike or airplane models, he’s working hard to save money for a sex change operation.
Doing early in the morning jobs at the dock always made Dong-Gu late and in trouble with the teachers at school, so he had to find other means to reach his goal. And then he heard of the ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling, a bit like sumo) contest, which assured winning players of a prize purse of 5 million won. Thus began his contradictory life, his feminine soul had to compete in a very masculine world of wrestling.
There were so many small but smart humor details that made this movie unforgettable. The way Dong-Gu lowered his eyes when seeing his Japanese teacher (played by Kusanagi Tsuyoshi-SMAP) that he had a huge crush on. The way Dong-Gu and one of the ssireum sonbae practiced Lexy’s Ehsongge dancing (with great moves, I must add) while talking about serious topic. The way Dong-Gu took the long and red cloth which was ssireum’s belt (arrggh, I forgot what it’s called), put it on like it was a long sari, and started to dance Indian dancing moves in front of his locker room mirror. How red one of the ssireum’s sonbae’s face when he’s suppressing laughter fit because of his supersensitive armpit got slightly touched (Imagine doing wrestling and protecting you armpit the whole time. It certainly didn’t look easy! Hahahaha). Etc.
But this movie was not all about humor. The heartfelt scenes were also there. The painful sobbing in the middle of the night while Dong-Gu was washing his wet pants, after a dream of finally having the menarche. The beating Dong-Gu had to endure from his father when he confronted him with the truth (“This is me, Abohji!).
And of course the dialogue Dong-Gu and his bestfriend had:
Friend: “You’re so lucky, unlike me or others, you already have a dream…”
Dong-Gu: “What dream? I just want to live a life!”
Rate:
Korean title: Cheonhajangsa Madonna Directors & Screenplay Writers: Lee Hae-Jun, Lee Hae-Yeong Casts: Ryu Deok-Hwan, Baek Yun-Sik, Lee Sang-Ah, Kim Yoon-Seok, Park Yeong-Seo, Kim Kyeong-Ik, Oh Yun-Hong, Lee Jae-Gu Distribution: CJ Entertainment
Release date in South Korea: 2006/08/31
Sources: www.yesasia.com; www.hancinema.com
I like its simple story line, nothing too ambitious (the kind that tried too hard to give some holly messages), and even though the transgender or transsexual issues has been the seed of so many movies we’ve seen these days, Like A Virgin made me saw it as a new fresh side. I was hooked to every frame and was not willing for it to go without taking me along.
Even though--with the fabulous casts that they had--they can easily create a “serious” drama, I was glad that the directors stayed to the comedy instead; you'll see it instantly that they were totally in their element. Ryu Duk-Hwan was totally great, and not only because he had gained 20 kg for this role! He could really played out his character up to the tiniest flicker in her eyes—ups, I meant, his eyes ;-p
Ryu Duk-Hwan (you may remember him as the youngest North Korean soldier in Welcome To Dongmakgol, though he was so thin in that also great movie) was Oh Dong-Gu, a fat, short and average second year high school student, who seemed to have every possible way of unhappiness.
His father was a gold medal boxer who got injured and now living every day with drinking, swearing, hitting, hating life and himself. His mother had lived separately from them; avoiding her husband’s rages and pursuing a life that had been postponed when she got pregnant with Dong-Gu at a very young age. His younger brother was pretty much ignorant and tried to avoid their father as much as he could—Dong-Gu said to his mother on one of their meetings that he’s becoming more and more like their dad.And if all of that were not enough, along with the peer pressure and stuffs, Oh Dong-Gu felt that he was a girl trapped in a boy’s body. He was so inspired by Madonna and her song “Like a Virgin” and dreamed of becoming a superstar like her. So when other boys were busy doing part time jobs to buy, for example, a motorbike or airplane models, he’s working hard to save money for a sex change operation.
Doing early in the morning jobs at the dock always made Dong-Gu late and in trouble with the teachers at school, so he had to find other means to reach his goal. And then he heard of the ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling, a bit like sumo) contest, which assured winning players of a prize purse of 5 million won. Thus began his contradictory life, his feminine soul had to compete in a very masculine world of wrestling.
There were so many small but smart humor details that made this movie unforgettable. The way Dong-Gu lowered his eyes when seeing his Japanese teacher (played by Kusanagi Tsuyoshi-SMAP) that he had a huge crush on. The way Dong-Gu and one of the ssireum sonbae practiced Lexy’s Ehsongge dancing (with great moves, I must add) while talking about serious topic. The way Dong-Gu took the long and red cloth which was ssireum’s belt (arrggh, I forgot what it’s called), put it on like it was a long sari, and started to dance Indian dancing moves in front of his locker room mirror. How red one of the ssireum’s sonbae’s face when he’s suppressing laughter fit because of his supersensitive armpit got slightly touched (Imagine doing wrestling and protecting you armpit the whole time. It certainly didn’t look easy! Hahahaha). Etc.
But this movie was not all about humor. The heartfelt scenes were also there. The painful sobbing in the middle of the night while Dong-Gu was washing his wet pants, after a dream of finally having the menarche. The beating Dong-Gu had to endure from his father when he confronted him with the truth (“This is me, Abohji!).
And of course the dialogue Dong-Gu and his bestfriend had:
Friend: “You’re so lucky, unlike me or others, you already have a dream…”
Dong-Gu: “What dream? I just want to live a life!”
Rate:
Korean title: Cheonhajangsa Madonna Directors & Screenplay Writers: Lee Hae-Jun, Lee Hae-Yeong Casts: Ryu Deok-Hwan, Baek Yun-Sik, Lee Sang-Ah, Kim Yoon-Seok, Park Yeong-Seo, Kim Kyeong-Ik, Oh Yun-Hong, Lee Jae-Gu Distribution: CJ Entertainment
Release date in South Korea: 2006/08/31
Sources: www.yesasia.com; www.hancinema.com
5 comments:
The plot is probably inspired by Thai's "Beautiful Boxer"?
Anyways, think it's a good movie. Will look out for that one during my next trip to Glodok :-)
Oh really? Haven't heard nor watched that one. Was it also about traditional sport--in this case, traditional Thai's kick boxing?
Yup, you should try this one :-))
Not sure if the DVD's available. Watched "Beautiful Boxer" in 2005 Jiffest.
It's based on a true story about a Thai kick boxing champion who turned himself into a she. Full of topless muscular male bodies. *ehm..*
Too bad they cast a "quite" good looking guy to be the kick boxing champion. *hate the part to see him wearing make up while fighting on the ring. Grrrr ... what's with movies about the unusual sexual preferences these days!!*
Will look for the Like a Virgin DVD
Topless muscular male bodies??? Oooohhh, sounds promising! Kakakakakak ;-p
But speaking of which, I wouldn't get my hope high about any muscular body in this movie. Most of them were a bit big, not so near the description "muscular". Hehehe.
There was one sonbae who was quite nice looking, though...
Watched Lexy's "Ehsongge" MV, and I got to say that I like Dong-Gu's dancing and singing better! Hahahahaha... ;-D
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