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 titular role, with Miki Nakatani, Tatsuya Fuji, and actual Japanese wrestlers Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki in the cast.
Rikidōzan | |
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Hangul | 역도산 |
Hanja | 力道山 |
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 |
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Running time | 137 minutes |
Countries | South Korea Japan |
Languages | Japanese Korean |
†denotes an actual professional wrestler
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.
Films directed by Song Hae-sung | |
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