Shiko Funjatta is a funny, smart, and endearing look at a diverse group of college kids who transform from half-hearted sumo novices (it's college sumo so weight classes keep the wrestlers "normal" sized, as opposed to professional sumo giants) into gung-ho participants who have the time of their lives. Think Bad News Bears, but for adults - though kids love it as well.
This movie, now a classic in Japan, won Best Movie as well as well as Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director. With this film (budgeted slightly under $1 million U.S.) Director and Writer Masayuki Suo established himself as the premier Japanese movie maker, breathing life into an industry that has been reduced to violence and skin flicks for far too long. After his successful follow-up with the larger budgeted Shall We Dansu? (1996), Suo is on his way to world-wide acclaim and success.
