| Rikidōzan | |
|---|---|
![]() Movie poster  | |
| Hangul | |
| 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  | 
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.
Cast
- 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
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
- ↑ 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
- Rikidozan at IMDb
 - Rikidozan at the Korean Movie Database
 - Rikidozan at Sony Pictures Japan
 
