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Sumo Do, Sumo Don't

Directed by Masayuki Suo
Film Movement Classics
1992
103 Minutes
Japan
Japanese
Comedy, Drama, Sports, Asian, Classics
Not Rated

A college senior, Shuhei, is blackmailed by a professor into joining the school's sumo team. He is aided by a group of misfits who must team together to defeat their rivals or face disgrace and the disbandment of the sumo club. Recently remade as a 10-part series for Disney+, the original film is presented in a new 4K restoration.

Director & Cast

  • Director: Masayuki Suo
  • Starring: Masahiro Motoki
  • Starring: Misa Shimizu
  • Starring: Naoto Takenaka
  • Starring: Akira Emoto

Where to Watch

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "A rare treasure, and a pinnacle of its genre."
    Grant Watson, Fiction Machine
  • "The final sumo matches are genuinely exciting."
    Chase Burns, The Stranger
  • "Imbued with that understated eccentricity that many Japanese comedies have used so effectively, Masayuki Suo’s homage to his country’s unique culture proves to be a winning effort. "
    Andrew Saroch, Far East Films
  • "[A] fully entertaining, sometimes laugh out loud movie about sports underdogs who rise to success...."
    Japan On Film
  • "Unashamedly feel good yet never tipping over into the mawkishly sentimental, Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t is the best kind of sports comedy where the outcome itself is almost irrelevant in light of the greater game that’s been in play right the way through."
    Hayley Scanlon, Windows on Worlds
  • "A funnier re-run of Fancy Dance (with sumo wrestling replacing Zen Buddhism) and an even more self-confident trial run for Shall We Dance?"
    Time Out