Rikidōzan () is a 2004 South Korean-Japanese film written and directed by Song Hae-sung. 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. Cast Rikidōzan/Kim Sin-rak: Sol Kyung-gu Aya: Miki Nakatani Yuzuru Yoshimachi: Masato Hagiwara Keiko Oki: Sawa Suzuki Kōichi Kasai: Tarō Yamamoto Masahiko Kimura: Masakatsu Funaki† Kim Myon-gil: Park Chul-min Kim Il: No Jun-ho Kōkichi Endō: Jun Akiyama† Toyonobori: Muhammad Yone† Harold Sakata: Keiji Mutoh† Azumanami: Shinya Hashimoto† Ben Sharpe: Mike Polchlopek† Mike Sharpe: Jim Steele† Mr. Atomic (Clyde Steeves): Rick Steiner† Wrestler: Makoto Hashi† Wrestler: Go Shiozaki† Wrestler: Koji Yoshida Wrestler: Chikara Momota Announcer: Shigeru Kajiwara Interviewer: Masami Ogishima NTV President: Shinji Nomura Nishonoyama Oyakata: Kazuyuki Senba Kenichi Tamura: Munenori Iwamoto New Havana Club M.C.: Magy Middle-Aged Woman: Rei Okamoto Takeo Kanno: Tatsuya Fuji †denotes an actual professional wrestler Reception Sol Kyung-gu gained 20 kilograms (44 lbs.) for the role and also delivered 95% of his lines in Japanese. 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. Nevertheless, Rikidozan was recognized at the 42nd Grand Bell Awards, winning Best Director for Song Hae-sung, and Best Cinematography for Kim Hyung-koo. References External links Rikidozan at Sony Pictures Japan 2004 films 2000s sports drama films 2004 biographical drama films South Korean sports drama films South Korean biographical films Sports films based on actual events Biographical films about sportspeople Professional wrestling films Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in Japan Films directed by Song Hae-sung CJ Entertainment films 2000s Japanese-language films 2000s Korean-language films Japanese multilingual films South Korean multilingual films Cultural depictions of South Korean men Cultural depictions of professional wrestlers 2004 drama films South Korean films based on actual events 2000s South Korean films