Cheonhajangsa madonna (2006, South Korea)

A comedy about a boy from a dysfunctional family who dreams of becoming a woman. Oh Dong-gu (Ryoo Deok-hwan), the overweight son of a father given to bouts of drunken violence, finds solace in the music of Madonna, particularly her song "Like A Virgin."

Oh secretly tries make-up, and here examines himself in front of a mirror wearing a bra. He also has a crush on his Japanese school teacher, whom he fantasizes about during class. Oh needs 5 million won to have a sex-change operation, which happens to be exactly the prize money offered to the winner of the national wrestling tournament for high school students. Oh turns out to be a natural-born wrestler.

The final sequence in the film is a stage song and dance number, with hour hero finally in his heroine's form.

The film is also known as Like a Virgin.

HF September 2007

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