Doglegs: NZIFF Review
The idea of a film about a disabled Japanese wrestling league may
provoke reactions within the audience, but Doglegs is a sensitive and
intriguing peek into a world hitherto unwitnessed.
And given the tragic events in Japan earlier this week when a care
worker stabbed at least 19 disabled people in a centre west of Tokyo, this film’s
taken on another level.
Director Heath Cozens follows a few founding members of the
Doglegs wrestling group, set up by a collection of self-described misfits.
Becoming a lifeline for the marginalised, the group would settle scores between
each other in the ring (and in one clash, two rivals clash over a woman) and
gradually became a close knit community.
It’s into this world that Cozens ventures, following the likes of “Sambo”
Shintaro who has cerebral palsy and who wants to retire. But not without one
final fight against a long term rival – the able bodied Kitajima. And in a
twist that shakes Shintaro, Kitajima says he will fight but only the winner
will be allowed to retire.
Elsewhere, there’s another fighter whose path of self-destruction
is tragic and disturbing. And into that mix, is footage over years thrown in of
the wrestlers taking on each other and empowering themselves but potentially
likely to unsettle viewers.
What Cozens has managed to do with Doglegs is concoct a doco that
forces you to make your own decisions and judgement as the story transpires and
may see you shrinking away uncertain on how you feel.
But Cozens has equally managed to handle the situation with
sincere aplomb; there’s no judgement here and there’s clearly been a desire to
let the camera capture it warts and all. So what emerges is an intriguing look
at pride, pathos and shame within the Japanese culture.
Shintaro becomes the clear focus of the majority of the story –
and it’s hard to see how he can ever win against an able bodied opponent
determined to humiliate him in the ring. In many ways, it’s a traditional
underdog story with non-traditional contenders.
However, by focussing on life outside of the ring (Shintaro’s
quest for love, his relationship with his mother and with others in the Doglegs
group), what comes from it all is a film that is a conflict; it has a bizarre
joie de vivre and will leave a divisive feeling in viewers.
Are the audience of the fights laughing at the contenders or are
they enjoying the sport? Cozens makes no judgement on them, and perhaps it may
have been interesting to get their point of view into proceedings, but he does
nothing to humiliate his subjects or glorify them either.
It’s a smart move to make Doglegs so non-exploitative and challenge perceptions, but it is
perhaps one of the more unsettling films at the festival this year – but as an
insight into a different world and ruminations on people’s place in the world,
it’s a fascinatingly assured movie that earns your respect with its honesty and
sincerity.
