Here
is a well kept secret of the BBC. They used to make and fund really
good documentaries. They have had a few hits lately in my eyes. Last
years documentary on British wrestling was as funny as it was
touching. When Wrestling was Golden: Grapples, Grunts and Grannies,
is an excellent program. But the best wrestling documentary I have
ever seen, and that includes the excellent documentaries by WWE, is
Kim Longinotto's GAEA girls. It is not just a great pro wrestling
film, its a great documentary. Longinotto's choices of subject is
perfect. Her passive anthropological style captures the pure
grittiness of the moment and she matches it with touching scenes of
tenderness in a film that is about as stark as it gets.
GAEA
was a promotion that was started by Chigusa Nagayo in 1995 and opened
its doors to great critical acclaim. As I have mentioned elsewhere,
GAEA began the stratification of the Joshi scene which has left us so
many companies today. The main thrust of the film is the story of one
student Takeuchi as she takes her final tests before making her GAEA
début. It shows the stark living conditions and harsh training
methods that make Joshi wrestlers some of the toughest performers in
the world. It really is a film about ambition and the relationships
between Nagayo and her trainees. Nagayo talks about how her
relationship with her father drove her in her wrestling career, and
its not impossible to see the relationship between Nagayo and head
trainer Meiko Satomura as a quasi father son relationship in the same
mould. The pattern repeats itself with Takeuchi, taking harsh and
very real beatings after very real beatings to prove her worth to
Satomura and Nagayo.
The
reaction to this film has been as varied as it is brilliant.
Longinotto cried while watching the beat downs and humiliations
Takeuchi suffered, on the other hand wrestlers like April Davids and
Jenny Sjordin have said it was the reason they took up wrestling. The
discipline required to be a top level Joshi, or any wrestler for that
matter is amazing. The physical punishment they go through is at an
incredibly high level. The teaching methods while not exactly picture
perfect educational theory are very tied into the military psychology
of breaking people down to build them back up. To bring out that
killer instinct, because in the long run, any wrestler has to have
that instinct, in the ring and in business life or they will not
survive. It is also not hard to see why the girls want to do it.
Stardom is one thing, independence is totally another, and in what
was and to a certain extent still is a very closed conservative
society, the chance to be something different is a big draw.
This
film is a must see for any wrestling fan, it is the best example of
watching wrestlers at different tiers of the business and being able
to contrast their approaches to life. The fearful Takeuchi looking to
please at every turn and trying her hardest to be a totally different
person,. The person she needs to be to get in the ring. Satomura, the
young but able wrestler, trying to make her way worried about her
students but worried about her own career and its path. Finally of
course Nagayo, the legend. The one person who has seen it all from
harsh abuse of her father to adoration of screaming girls from all
over Japan. Nagayo was the biggest star Joshi ever produced a once
in a life time phenomena, and you can physically see her frustration
as she tries to bring the next generation of girls forward to fill
her spot.
Counter
pointing all this stark reality are touching moments of joy and
mundane life, Nagayo getting her hair cut “I have a good head for
slapping” and Satomura sitting in the sun having her noodle
breakfast and singing a happy tune while the girls relax for a short
break.
Enjoy
the film.
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