''Man on High Heels'' (; lit. "High Heel") is a 2014 South Korean

neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term ...

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

written and directed by Jang Jin, starring

Cha Seung-won Cha Seung-won (; born June 7, 1970) is a South Korean actor, who began his career as an in-demand model (person), fashion model in the 1990s. Cha achieved stardom through the hit comedy films ''Kick the Moon'' (2001), ''Jail Breakers'' (2002), ' ...

as a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

homicide detective.

Plot

Yoon Ji-wook is a hard-as-nails homicide detective known for his undisputed ability to nab violent criminals. He is revered as a legend in the police force and at the same time feared among the mafia for his brutality in cracking down on crime. Yet, beneath his cool, macho appearance lies a secret that he must hide from the world he lives in. Ji-wook was born male, and he has wanted to live his life as a woman since his teenage years. He tries to suppress this inner desire, but in vain. Ji-wook finally reaches the point where he can no longer hide who he truly is, and decides to take the plunge and get a gender affirmation operation. However, before he has a chance to do so, unexpected crises arise and interfere with his plans. A gang that suffered from the cold, hard steel of Ji-wook's handcuffs is dead set on getting their revenge against him. Ji-wook resigns and tries to go about making his dream a reality, but people close to him gets sucked into the revenge plot he finds himself at the center of. When some of those people get killed and a girl named Jang-mi falls into danger, he realizes that he can't stand idly by any longer.

Cast

as Yoon Ji-wook * Oh Jung-se as Heo Gon * Esom as Jang-mi * Song Young-chang as Heo Bul *

Kim Eung-soo Kim Eung-soo (; born February 12, 1961) is a South Korean actor. Kim lived in Japan for seven years, where he studied filmmaking at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. Filmography Film Television series Variety show Web sh ...

as Squad leader Park *

Ahn Gil-kang Ahn Gil-kang (; born August 24, 1966) is a South Korean actor. He frequently appears as a supporting actor in director Ryoo Seung-wan's films, such as '' Die Bad'' (2000), '' Crying Fist'' (2005), ''The City of Violence'' (2006), and ''Dachimawa ...

as Master Park *

Go Kyung-pyo Go Kyung-pyo (; born June 11, 1990) is a South Korean actor. He gained recognition for his roles in the television series ''Reply 1988'' (2015–16), '' Don't Dare to Dream'' (2016), and '' Chicago Typewriter'' (2017). He has since transitioned ...

as Kim Jin-woo * Lee Yong-nyeo as Bada *

Lee El Kim Ji-hyun (; born June 26, 1982), known professionally as Lee El () is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her Supporting character, supporting roles in the film ''Inside Men (film), Inside Men'' (2015), the television series ''It's ...

as Do Do * Kim Min-kyo as Man 1 * Min Jun-ho as accountant * Kim Ye-won as Jung Yoo-ri * Lee Eon-jeong as Joo-yeon * Oh Ji-ho as Lee Seok *

Park Sung-woong Park Sung-woong (; born January 9, 1973) is a South Korean actor. Following his acting debut in ''No. 3'' in 1997, Park has starred in several movies and Korean drama, television series, notably as a gangster in ''New World (2013 film), New Wo ...

as Prosecutor Hong *

Yoon Son-ha Yoon Son-ha (; born November 17, 1975, Jeonju, South Korea) is a South Korean actress, singer and television personality (''gaijin tarento''). She is signed onto Sony Music Japan's SME Records division. Since making her debut in the Munhwa Broa ...

as Jung Yoo-jung * Lee Moon-soo as taxi driver *

Kim Byeong-ok Kim Byeong-ok (born October 11, 1960) is a South Korean actor. A veteran supporting actor, he is best known for his role as Mr. Han in '' Oldboy''. Career In 2015, he was featured in a controversial Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: En ...

as Dr. Jin * Lee Hae-young as immigration staff member * Kim Won-hae as elevator resident * Lee Dong Gil as young Jiwook

Box office

''Man on High Heels'' was released in South Korea on June 4, 2014. Despite its star director and actor, the film underperformed at the box office against Hollywood blockbusters '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'' and ''

Edge of Tomorrow ''Edge of Tomorrow'' is a 2014 American science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Christopher McQuarrie and the writing team of Jez Butterworth, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth, loosely based on th ...

''. It opened at sixth place on the box office, drawing 338,663 admissions.

Awards

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man on High Heels 2014 films 2010s Korean-language films South Korean action films South Korean LGBTQ-related films Transgender-related films Film noir Lotte Entertainment films 2014 LGBTQ-related films 2010s South Korean films