| Rikidōzan | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster | |
| Hangul | 역도산 |
| Hanja | 力道山 |
| Revised Romanization | Yeokdosan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yŏkdosan |
| Directed by | Song Hae-sung |
| Written by | Song Hae-sung |
| Produced by | Kim Sun-ah Haruo Umekawa |
| Starring | Sul 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 |
Rikidōzan (Korean: 역도산; RR: Yeokdosan) is a 2004 South Korean-Japanese film written and directed by Song Hae-sung. 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 Sul Kyung-gu in the title role, with Miki Nakatani, Tatsuya Fuji, and actual Japanese wrestlers Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki in the cast.
Cast
- Rikidōzan/Kim Sin-rak: Sul 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
Sol Kyung-gu gained 20 kilograms (44 lbs.) for the role and also delivered 95% of his lines in Japanese. 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.
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
- 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. Archived from the original on 2023-05-11. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
External links
- Rikidozan at IMDb
- Rikidozan at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean)
- Rikidozan at Sony Pictures Japan
| Films directed by Song Hae-sung | |
|---|---|
|
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- 2004 films
- 2000s sports drama films
- 2004 biographical drama films
- South Korean sports drama films
- South Korean biographical films
- Sports films based on actual events
- Biographical films about sportspeople
- Professional wrestling films
- Films set in the 1950s
- Films set in the 1960s
- Films set in Japan
- Films directed by Song Hae-sung
- CJ Entertainment films
- 2000s Japanese-language films
- 2000s Korean-language films
- Japanese multilingual films
- South Korean multilingual films
- Cultural depictions of South Korean people
- Cultural depictions of professional wrestlers
- 2004 drama films
- South Korean films based on actual events
- 2000s South Korean films
- South Korean film stubs