Rikidozan: a Hero Extraordinary Song Hae-sung Korea/Japan 2004
Fortunately Rikidozan - a Hero Extraordinary, the dramatised story of the eponymous sumo wrestler doesn’t subject us to too much of those near naked wrestlers. What Rikidozan – a Hero Extraordinary does show us though is the story, the very, very long story, of Rikidozan, a Korean man who came to Japan in the ‘40s to make a career as a sumo wrestler. After suffering an incredible amount of abuse during his training (due to his being Korean in Japan) he did make it. The chip on his shoulder and his incredible temper almost certainly contributed to him being suspended by Sumo’s ruling body, though the main reason is said to have been his racial ‘impurity’, and it was definitely the reason behind him being cut down to size in a bar by Harold Sakada who ran a wrestling class. Discovering a new career possibility Rikidozan goes to Sakada’s school and learns how to wrestle; he becomes a pro wrestler and is instrumental in bringing it to a mainstream audience in Japan and making it the phenomenon it is in the country today.
Rikidozan is an interesting character, if not a very likeable one. Maybe if you knew who he was it would make a difference but as he is a complete unknown to me and not knowing his superstar pedigree in Japan he just comes across as an arrogant, foul tempered man who thought that everything revolved around him. His life was certainly packed with incident; even if he mostly caused it himself, and these incidents do make a good film. The main problem with Rikidozan is that it is way too long, over two hours, and that sometimes its heavy production values get in the way, making the film look too good in places! The other negative to the film is that Rikidozan himself is such an un-likeable character. He dominates every scene and because of this if you don’t like him it gets a bit tiresome after a while. If you are supposed to feel sympathy for him due to his treatment it failed to elicit anything from me. Sol Kyung-gu, who plays Rikidozan, does so with real quality. The anger he feels at his treatment, his perseverance and sheer guts at surviving through Sumo school comes across superbly. His slow slide into egotism and arrogance though really make you wonder why the man is such a hero in Japan.
Overall Rikidozan - a Hero Extraordinary looks superb, the nightclub scene and the wrestling matches show the care the film makers have invested into their movie, but it is just too long, Rikidozan is just so unlikeable that you don’t want to spend too much time in his presence!
