“The Queen of Villains” is a typical coming-of-age story a couple of younger girl’s street to empowerment and self-discovery — besides all of it takes place within the body-slamming, arm-twisting world of Japanese skilled wrestling.
The Netflix sequence, which started airing final month, tells the story of Dump Matsumoto, a real-life wrestling legend from the Eighties who grew up poor with a father who was usually absent or abusive.
Matsumoto grew up offended, she stated, and went on to create in her wrestling persona a ferocious, nearly camp villain character, identified within the sport as a “heel,” full with outlandish Kabuki-like facial make-up, chains, sticks and a grotesque scowl. She loomed giant as an emblem of fearless and defiant womanhood.
“I gave it my all to be evil,” Matsumoto stated.
A hefty girl with a pleasant smile, Matsumoto makes a degree even now to adamantly deny that she was ever a pleasant particular person or acknowledge that many individuals in Japan, particularly ladies, love her.
“I still beat people up in matches. I stuck forks in them and made them bleed,” she stated, including, “All the people who pretend to be good are the truly evil ones.”
“The Queen of Villains” follows the friendship between Matsumoto and Chigusa Nagayo of the favored wrestling tag crew often called the Crush Gals. Nagayo served as an adviser, coach and choreographer for the sequence’ dramatized wrestling scenes.
Japanese skilled wrestling followers nonetheless speak in regards to the matches between Matsumoto and the Crush Gals, together with those they fought within the U.S.
The actresses within the sequence spent two years coaching for his or her roles. They gained weight and muscle, and discovered methods just like the “giant swing,” through which a wrestler grabs her opponent’s legs and strikes in a dizzying circle, or the “flying knee kick,” which entails a soar and kick to the physique whereas airborne.
The trick in skilled wrestling is to execute the punches and physique slams convincingly however in a managed approach to keep away from critical accidents. A wrestler additionally should know methods to fall correctly.
One key struggle scene took a month to movie because the actors went over every transfer, repeatedly.
“Dump played a role to be hated by the entire nation,” stated Yuriyan Retriever, an expert comic who stars as Matsumoto within the sequence.
“Previously, there was a limit, maybe even unintentionally, beyond which I couldn’t go. But when I played Dump, all those emotions had to come out and be expressed,” she stated.
She felt like she was not enjoying a job, she stated, however that she had grow to be Dump Matsumoto.
“It’s frightening to be hated, and I don’t think anyone wants to be hated,” Retriever stated.
“When I finished a cut, I was crying. And my body was shaking. I can’t express it in words, but I understood all the pressures Dump must have felt.”
The sequence not solely presents a women-beating-the-odds story towards a backdrop of sexism and abusive administration however it additionally captures the postwar interval of the Showa-era in a approach that feels genuine. The scenes used 1000’s of extras, a lot of them critical wrestling followers.
Some viewers say the real-life wrestling was extra intense than the dramatized model within the new sequence.
Rionne McAvoy, an Australian filmmaker who as an expert wrestler was hit with a stick by Matsumoto, stated: “The actors usually fail to seize the depth, grit and charisma required for these roles.”
But for many viewers, it’s actual sufficient and heartbreaking.
“This is an eternal but emotional story portraying ordinary girls who passionately pursued a dream, found friendship and also themselves,” director Kazuya Shiraishi stated.
“It gave me a chance to reflect on my own 15-year filmmaking career, what I truly want to be, what kind of films I want to make. I just wanted to tell their story, which is also everyone’s story.”
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