Fantastic Fest 2008: Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory
It would be ignorant of me to suggest that if there was one ‘wrestling’ movie you should watch this year that Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory should be it. But we all know that there is another wrestling movie coming soon starring Micky Rourke. But, if I were to suggest that if there was one ‘underdog sports’ movie that you should watch this year then Gachi Boy has no equal. Director Norihiro Koizumi, lead actor Ryuta Sato and a great supporting cast have brought us a gem of a film. Gachi Boy is a tear jerker of the highest order, incredibly funny and sheer joy from start to finish. It is a shame that this film has screened so late in the festival because I think it would have given this year’s awards winners a run for their money.
Igarashi was one of the most promising students at his university. Intent on becoming a lawyer he even passed his bar exam a year before completing his degree. After a car accident Igarashi has suffered permanent brain damage and cannot create new memories. Each morning he wakes up and notes tacked to the ceiling and walls remind him to read the journals he has been keeping since the accident. His extensive notes have helped him function in day-to-day life. His dreams of becoming a lawyer dashed and a foreseeable future working in the family bath house with his father Igarashi intends to live out one more dream. He has always wanted to be a masked wrestler.
So Igarashi seeks out his university’s wrestling club fully intent on joining. They aren’t the greatest wrestlers anyone has ever seen. They are ever on the brink of being shut down by the university. However, no one can deny that they are incredibly funny to watch when they perform. They are in throes of change as one of their greatest members quit wrestling in favor of seeking out a music career so his girlfriend would not leave. That itself is ironic because he now dons the costume of a Goth rocker and she’s as ugly as a pig’s foot. So when new blood come knocking at their door they see new life and perhaps more interest from the rest of the student body in their sport. They take in Igarashi and start to train him to be a masked wrestler.
Gachi Boy was adapted from a stage production from a few years earlier. Further developing some more of the characters and putting wrestling scenes to the production [there were no wrestling scenes in the stage show] the creative team behind this movie fleshed out his human drama all the more so. The script moves effortlessly between great comedy and tremendous human moments that you’re laughing hard one moment and pretending there is something in your eye the next. Yes, I was holding back the tears. It was incredibly heartbreaking to watch this young man have to relive each day as it was the first, sometimes making mistakes along the way. I cannot even begin to imagine how awful that must be to discover each day when you wake up that you have no memory of what you did the previous day, or any day before that up to a year ago.
The power in these moments is the restraint with which Norihiro directs and Sato acts. It isn’t over dramatic. It is stunning in its silence as we watch the emotion on Igarashi’s face when he discovers that he has forgotten something again. And as much as it is heartbreaking for us to discover this so does the supporting cast also convey this on screen. It often looks like Norihiro uses stage blocking to frame his cast on the screen.
When we do get to the wrestling matches in the film Norihiro shoots them very well. They are exciting and you feel each impact, slam and fall, capturing the energy of the moment. As the story develops in Gachi Boy their club is invited by another university wrestling club to participate in a few matches leading up to a tag team match with their all-star duo. What Igarashi does not know is that his matches are being thrown by his opponents to help create hype for this ultimate match. Events get more desperate when his teammates learn of his condition and lose trust that he can remember what to do when he is in the ring and he will get hurt. ‘Safety First’ is their motto after all. But Igarashi is intent on taking part in this match. He will not let his impediment overcome his dreams.
Gachi Boy builds to its exciting climax and you can be sure that it is going to get your heart in a choke hold as well. There are some surprise moments in the final scenes as well that bring hard laughs as well. It is a fitting climax to a great human drama, full of exciting moments and heart wrenching emotion. That makes it one of the best underdog sports movies to have been made in recent history. If you read this in time before the second screening at Fantastic Fest today at 3:55pm I would implore you to give it the benefit of the doubt and you will also give it your love as well. It is that good.
