Gachi Boy: Wrestling with a Memory (2008) holds the distinction of being my favorite film from Fantasticfest this year; a hard thing to do with powerhouse films like JCVD and The Chaser on the bill and doubly hard because at second glance this movie seems to be a feel good hit for the whole family, something I despise (at first glance it seems to be a comedy wrestling movie). Both glances are completely off the mark as director Norihiro Koizumi delivers a tour de force about love, sacrifice, memory and overcoming the odds without falling into cliché. The scenario is fresh, the actors are superb and Koizumi’s ability to steer the audience emotionally through the full range of this story is deft and powerful. Couple all that with the sheer fun Gachi Boy delivers and you have a must see film that fulfills as well as provokes.

The story centers around Chihiro Okudera (Ryuta Sato) the smartest kid at University, a kid who passed the bar exam in his sophomore year and whose future is bright until he is struck by a car which wipes out his short-term memory altogether. He remembers everything before the accident with total clarity but any new experience or knowledge he acquires during the day is wiped from his mind when he falls asleep. Chihiro keeps a daily journal with important things he learns that he reads afresh every morning but he knows his life is over as does his father, a bathhouse operator that was so proud to have a lawyer son that wouldn’t have to labor as he did, and his sister, who has given up any hope she had of being anything to help look after her brother. Their life is now the story of failed hopes and disappointment. The only positive thought that holds him is of his school’s Fall festival where he saw the student proresu club put on an exhibition and he decides to join that club and become a professional wrestler.

The other wrestlers embrace him with enthusiasm because their club is the second-rate organization on campus and hardly anyone joins. They have one breakout star per couple of years but otherwise they’re the junior league. Chihiro does the best he can to learn the moves with his lapse but attempts to cover up his handicap in order to be accepted by his fellow wrestlers (with predictable results). His strength is that he thinks the grappling is real and he becomes enough of a hit with crowds that the top organization begins to cross-promote with the junior league, allowing Chihiro to “go over” against their talent to set-up an eventual squash by the Colecanths, the top tag-team of the federation. The story as a wrestling adventure is building toward this eventual tag-team match where Chihiro, if this was Rudy (1993), would win and be the hero and fade out but Gachi Boy deftly uses audience expectations to drive his story to this event specifically to use the wrestling climax to deliver a story about people and sacrifice and loss that is so much less about the sport and so much more more about life and what it can become.

The wrestling is very well done and all the talent except one are actors who exhibit both the skills and ability to entertain and move the story along. Devil Skull is far and away my favorite “wrestler,” visually resembling Masahiro Chono but way funnier a character, yet all the actors proficiency and comedy-skills were top-notch, believable and, most importantly, sincere. I am one of the hardest-hearted individuals ever to sit through a film but even I welled up at the end of this picture, even though it ended up near where I thought but just off enough to be a breath of fresh air, even though I hate children and puppies and flowers and happiness Koizumi and cast played myself and the entire audience like fiddles emotionally and it was so well executed I didn’t mind one bit. The movie defies cliché and eschews convention yet still provides a hopeful resolution that makes this film a joy.
Gachi Boy was received wonderfully at Fantasticfest this year and I’ve read that it has garnered ovations and Audience Awards from several other major festivals so it almost goes without saying that I recommend this film highly. I have heard no word on theatrical or dvd release dates but I know I’ll be getting a copy and showing it to everyone I know if I’ve got to order it from Japan myself (and I will too – it’s happened before). Powerful and worthwhile are the two strongest words I can use to describe this film and I eagerly await more from Norihiro Koizumi. His tremendous understanding of film and subtle impact will make any endeavor of his a success and place it high on my “must acquire” list. Do yourself a favor and find this film any way you can. It will be an evening of joy and film you’ll not forget any time soon.