Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72956 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-08-20
• Format: NTSC
• Original language: English

Amazon.com
This 85 minute version is for personal home use only. FOR NON-PROFIT AND INSTITUTIONAL USE (also available in 53 minute version) Theatrical Version - Includes 32 additional minutes not seen on TV*

Featuring Akebono, Konishiki, Jesse Kuhaulua, Wayne Vierra and Emmanuel Yarbrough

In Japan, sumo wrestling is not only the national sport but a centuries-old cultural treasure. Yet over the past few decades the highly traditional world of sumo has been rocked by the arrival of bigger, heavier American wrestlers from Hawaii who have become among the most successful and popular wrestlers in the sport. "Sumo East and West" takes us into this world through the story of Wayne Vierra of Hawaii, whose promising professional sumo career in Japan was cut short by injury, but who rebounded to become a champion in the burgeoning world of amateur sumo in the West, where its advocates are staging amateur sumo tournaments in venues like Las Vegas casinos - events that bear little resemblance to the sport's Japanese forebear. Can a 2000-year-old sport survive in the 21st century in its traditional form? What happens when East and West collide?

SUMO EAST AND WEST had its World Premiere at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival and its National Broadcast on PBS's Independent Lens series, 2004.

Produced, Directed, Photographed, and Edited by Ferne Pearlstein (winner of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival Documentary Cinematography Award for IMELDA) and Produced, Edited and Written by Robert Edwards.

*Please note that the Theatrical Version was shown on PBS in some markets including Hawaii, American Samoa, and Guam.

INDIVIDUAL USE: RIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS: This purchase is for individual home use only, and does not include any public-performance rights of either a paying or non-paying nature.

SUMO EAST AND WEST is protected by United States copyright law. Duplication, reproduction, alteration, television broadcast or cablecast, internet webcasting/filesharing, loaning for a fee, leasing, sublicensing to others or use for public exhibition or commercial purposes (i.e. charging admission) is strictly prohibited without written permission from SumoFilms, Inc.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

A Rich Cultural Exchange
I think this documentary was purposely and wisely titled "Sumo: East AND West" rather than "Sumo: East VERSUS West" (my emphases). The point of the work is that though sumo was originally only for Japanese men, it now has participants that are American, international, and even female. You see how sumo travelled from Japan to Hawaii. Thomas Edison recorded it back in 1903 and it was performed in Japanese-American internment camps. From there Polynesians picked it up. This work is a great addition to Asian Pacific American studies, as you rarely see either group in filmic works.

In this film, you get to see Polynesian, black, white, Arab, and multiracial men embrace this sport. You hear them speaking Japanese (refuting ideas that Americans refuse to learn foreign languages). At the same time, the documentary shows how Japanese boys are tending to abandon sumo and embrace baseball. This work is brilliant in showing the ebb and flow of culture(s).

This movie is surprising. The main interviewees are shown losing rounds. Contestants you wouldn't expect to win do so. Wrestlers retire and re-enter the sport. For those of us who love scantily clad, heavyset, superhot guys, this work is absolute eye candy and pure pleasure.

I applaud this work on so many levels. Serious analyzes of social constructionism and globalization take place here through very accessible methods. I hope this documentary goes on to win awards or garner massive audience reception.

Interesting but a little slow
This flick is a very interesting peek into the current sumo wrestling world. While I wish it included more historical and technical information about the sport, I guess that's just not what its aim is. For example, I would like to have learned what these wrestlers eat and what leads them to join this sport (is it because they are large to begin with?).
This film does a good job of showing the newcomers' problems with fitting in and even touches on female sumo wrestlers (though not enough in my opinion). There is some great "insider" footage, such as the ritual of breaking in a new wrestler and the blessing of the dohyo ring before a competition. Overall, it's interesting but a little slow because it relies on wrestlers' interviews to lead the narration and these big guys speak very slowly!