The Height of Masaharu Take's Realism in Underdog
Stories of People Living at Society's Margins
Released by director Masaharu Take in 2020, Underdog remains fresh in memory as a film that delivered a new shock to Japanese cinema. It tells the story of a man who gives up his path as a professional boxer and throws himself into underground combat sports. Through the stories of two fighters played by leads Hironori Murai and Nobuyuki Suzuki, Take vividly depicts the darkness of contemporary society and the dignity of the people living within it.
The story takes place in the world of underground combat sports, a world almost invisible to mainstream society. Former boxers who failed in the professional world gather there alongside young people who, for various reasons, have nowhere else to go. They enter illegal matches, risking their lives for small cash prizes. By depicting this harsh world without any beautification or embellishment, Take sheds light on the shadowy side of contemporary Japan. Each character has their own circumstances, but all are “underdogs” who can survive only in this world. Through them, Take reveals the distortions of capitalist society and the reality of those it leaves behind.
Rigorous Demands on Actors and Physical Expression
Underdog's most distinctive feature is its uncompromising commitment to realism. For the filming, Take required leads Hironori Murai and Nobuyuki Suzuki to undergo actual martial arts training. After months of rigorous training, they acquired the physiques and skills of real fighters. This preparation period itself became an important factor in making their performances convincing.
The fight scenes dispense with flashy Hollywood-style action and stunts, focusing entirely on realistic depictions reminiscent of actual combat sports matches. The camera relentlessly follows the fighters' movements, vividly capturing sweat, blood, and expressions of pain. In particular, shooting fights in a single long take gives audiences a sense of presence while successfully capturing the actors' real physical movements. In pursuit of “images that do not lie,” Take insisted on expressing everything through the actors' actual bodies and movements, without relying on CGI or special effects. This approach has been highly praised for its rigorous realism, unparalleled even in Japanese cinema.
Fight Scenes as Social Criticism
The fight scenes in Underdog are more than action for entertainment: they carry the meaning of social criticism. Through the film, Take questions the violence of contemporary society and the essence of combat sports. The underground fighting world is depicted as a place where the competitive principles and survival-of-the-fittest logic of mainstream society take an extreme form. The strong defeat the weak, and only the winners survive. This structure functions as a symbol of competition in contemporary capitalist society.
However, Take's perspective goes beyond simple social criticism. Through the fighters, he depicts the dignity and will to live of people pushed to their limits. By facing their opponents in matches, the central fighters confront the value of their own existence. Fighting is the only outlet for self-expression society has given them, and a moment when they can feel alive. In an interview, Take said, “Combat sports are not violence, but the ultimate form of self-expression.” From this perspective, Underdog can be read not simply as a fighting film but as a philosophical work questioning the meaning of human existence in contemporary society.
Influence on Japanese Cinema and International Recognition
After its release, Underdog received high praise in Japan and internationally. Many critics particularly praised its uncompromising pursuit of realism and socially engaged perspective. It won the Audience Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and several awards at overseas festivals. This success brought Masaharu Take international recognition and established the film as a work demonstrating new possibilities for Japanese cinema.
Underdog's success also had a major impact on the Japanese film industry. Previously, fight scenes in Japanese cinema had often been somewhat stylized and unrealistic. Take's commitment to realism influenced many young directors and demonstrated new expressive possibilities. Its subject of people living at society's margins also came to be addressed as an important theme in subsequent Japanese films.
Through Underdog, Masaharu Take expanded the possibilities of cinema as an art form. His uncompromising realism and incisive perspective on social issues established his artistic identity while pointing toward a new direction for Japanese cinema. His “underdogs” leave a deep impression on viewers and become a mirror reflecting our own lives in contemporary society. In this sense, Underdog will long be remembered as a work of social and artistic value that goes beyond mere entertainment.
