Suô does the business here, in his hilarious sports comedy, his biggest hit prior to Shall We Dance and the inspiration for the recent Disney+ spin-off series. Deftly sidestepping the problem that few actors make convincing sumo wrestlers, Suô sets his scenario at the bottom of the ladder, at a college sumo club so low in the standings it only has one member, who has yet to graduate after eight years of trying. Shuhei (Masahiro Motoki) is talked into joining by his wily professor, but decides to stick around when he gets sight of the pretty manager, Natsuko (Misa Shimizu). Humiliated in his first tournament, Shuhei swears to turn things around…
A fully entertaining, sometimes laugh out loud movie about sports underdogs who rise to success….
Japan On Film
A rare treasure, and a pinnacle of its genre.
Grant Watson, Fiction Machine
Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t is still the best sumo movie and one of the best Japanese sports comedies ever.
Mark Schilling
Masayuki Suô
Masahiro Motoki, Misa Shimizu, Naoto Takenaka, Akira Emoto
Japan
1992
In Japanese with English subtitles
5 Japan Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay
Book Tickets
Tuesday June 17
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Screenwriter
Masayuki Suô
Cinematography
Naoki Kayano
Editor
Jun’ichi Kikuchi
Original Music
Yoshikazu Suo
Also in This Series
Chen Baker Play J-Pop
Jeffery's Chen Baker band is back (and bigger than ever) to present a set of city pop and jazzy J-pop by the likes of Miki Matsubara, Taeko Ohnuki, Lamp, before the screening of Masayuki Suô's hilarious underdog comedy Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992).
