Matter of Size (A)
- Director: Sharon Maymon; Erez Tadmor
- Writer: Sharon Maymon
- Producer: Franziska An der Gassen; Daniel Baur
CGiii Comment
A well-intentioned, crazy idea...Jewish sumo wrestlers.
Apart from one hysterical scene (the balcony) - it's not very funny...unless you find semi-naked fat men funny.
Add to the mix...a gay sumo wrestler, a tyrannical mother, a Japanese Jew and, a Nazi dietitian - a whole host of colourful characters...unfortunately, none of the interesting characters are given any room for development.
The story revolves around and focuses on Herzl - a dim-witted, immature bulk of a man - played with as much panache as an unsweetened pancake...
There was the potential for a very funny (and touching) film...but, with the mediocrity of the direction and writing - the result is lamentably forgetful...apart from that balcony scene.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
A group of fat people from the Israeli city of Ramla is fed up with the sanctity of diets and the 'Dictatorship of the Thinness' of the diet workshop they participate in. They leave it and discover the world of sumo, where fat people like them are honored and appreciated. Through sumo they are connecting to themselves and to their fat body, each one in his own way. Herzl an obese guy, starts to work as a dish washer in a Japanese restaurant in Israel. Herzl is exposed to the world of Sumo through Kitano, the restaurant manager, who was a Sumo coach in Japan and escaped to Israel, after he got involved with the Yakuza. Herzl falls in love with the Sumo world and wants Kitano to be the Sumo coach of his obese friends that gave up their diet. "My Own Private Sumo" is a movie about the coming out of the closet of fat people and about their ability to accept their fatness and relate to their body through the world of sumo.
Cast & Characters
Itzik Cohen as Herzl;
Dvir Benedek as Aharon;
Alon Dahan as Gidi;
Shmulik Cohen as Sami;
Irit Kaplan as Zehava;
Togo Igawa as Kitano;
Levana Finkelstein as Mona;
Evelin Hagoel as Geola;
Shaul Azar