Rikidōzan (Korean: 역도산; RR: Yeokdosan) is a 2004 South Korean-Japanese film written and directed by Song Hae-sung.[1] The film is based on the life of Rikidōzan, a legendary ethnic Korean professional wrestler who became a national hero in Japan in the 1950s. It stars Sol Kyung-gu in the title role, with Miki Nakatani, Tatsuya Fuji, and actual Japanese wrestlers Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki in the cast.
| Rikidōzan | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster | |
| Hangul | 역도산 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Yeokdosan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yŏkdosan |
| Directed by | Song Hae-sung |
| Written by | Song Hae-sung |
| Produced by | Kim Sun-ah Haruo Umekawa |
| Starring | Sol Kyung-gu Miki Nakatani Tatsuya Fuji Masato Hagiwara Masakatsu Funaki |
| Cinematography | Kim Hyung-koo |
| Edited by | Park Gok-ji |
| Music by | Lee Jae-jin |
Release date |
|
Running time | 137 minutes |
| Countries | South Korea Japan |
| Languages | Japanese Korean |
Cast edit
- Rikidōzan/Kim Sin-rak: Sol Kyung-gu
- Aya: Miki Nakatani
- Yuzuru Yoshimachi: Masato Hagiwara
- Keiko Oki: Sawa Suzuki
- Kōichi Kasai: Tarō Yamamoto
- Masahiko Kimura: Masakatsu Funaki†
- Kim Myon-gil: Park Chul-min
- Kim Il: No Jun-ho
- Kōkichi Endō: Jun Akiyama†
- Toyonobori: Muhammad Yone†
- Harold Sakata: Keiji Mutoh†
- Azumanami: Shinya Hashimoto†
- Ben Sharpe: Mike Polchlopek†
- Mike Sharpe: Jim Steele†
- Mr. Atomic (Clyde Steeves): Rick Steiner†
- Wrestler: Makoto Hashi†
- Wrestler: Go Shiozaki†
- Wrestler: Koji Yoshida
- Wrestler: Chikara Momota
- Announcer: Shigeru Kajiwara
- Interviewer: Masami Ogishima
- NTV President: Shinji Nomura
- Nishonoyama Oyakata: Kazuyuki Senba
- Kenichi Tamura: Munenori Iwamoto
- New Havana Club M.C.: Magy
- Middle-Aged Woman: Rei Okamoto
- Takeo Kanno: Tatsuya Fuji
†denotes an actual professional wrestler
Reception edit
Sol Kyung-gu gained 20 kilograms (44 lbs.) for the role and also delivered 95% of his lines in Japanese.[2][3] Despite winning great praise for his performance, however, the film vastly underperformed in the box office on its local release, with total admissions at 1,249,794.[4]
Nevertheless, Rikidozan was recognized at the 42nd Grand Bell Awards, winning Best Director for Song Hae-sung, and Best Cinematography for Kim Hyung-koo.
References edit
- ^ Kim, Gab-sik (13 October 2004). "A Dialogue between Film Directors Song Hae-sung and Iwai Shunji". The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ Lee, Seung-jae (1 December 2004). "I Reflected on Myself in Rikidozan". The Dong-a Ilbo. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ "Sul Kyung-gu Brings a Touch of Muscle to Wrestling Role". The Chosun Ilbo. 15 December 2004. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
- ^ "Commercial Releases in 2004: Ranked Box-Office Results". Koreanfilm.org. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
External links edit
- Rikidozan at IMDb
- Rikidozan at the Korean Movie Database
- Rikidozan at Sony Pictures Japan
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