Dohyô matsuri

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.