In the early years of the Meiji Restoration, traditional Japanese sports were in decline, particularly sumo wrestling. In this movie, Chiezô Kataoka becomes the hope of the sport, rising to Nippon-ichi, "best in Japan", along with some heartbreak along the way.
To an uneducated western eye, sumo wrestling looks like two half-naked, obese men, slapping and wrestling. Historically, it arose from Shinto, with important meaning in fertility and, believe it or not, settling water disputes. This movie, based on a novel by Hikojiro Suzuki, and scripted by Akira Kurosawa, is a bit dense for anyone without an understanding of the sport. It seems to proceed by means of some matches, some slanging, some titles proclaiming Kataoka's progress and setbacks, with a bit of screen time examining the adoration of Haruyo Ichikawa as the daughter of the manager of Kataoka's school, of the purportedly woman-hating lead.
The underwriting of the other characters is also a problem. Kurosawa would learn to combat these issues by working with other writers, ad by dropping background information into the film.... which would result in some very long films.
