Themes: Body Image and Self-Esteem, Underdogs, Double Life
Main Cast: Charlotte Brittain, Lee Ross, Annette Badland, James Hooton
Release Year: 2000
Country: UK/DE
Run Time: 92 minutes
Plot
Can a working-class wife find happiness through the discipline of sumo wrestling? After half-bright layabout Kenny (Lee Ross) loses his job, he tries to persuade his wife Daisy (Charlotte Brittain) to bring in some extra income by posing for nude photos. Daisy, who is more than a bit overweight, hardly regards this as either amusing or practical, and instead takes a position at a canning plant. Daisy doesn't much care for the work, but dutifully does her job until her boss Marlene (Annette Badland) approaches her with an unusual request. It seems Marlene is a member of a group of women who are fascinated with Japanese culture, and they've taken it upon themselves to secretly found Britain's first female sumo wrestling society. Marlene is convinced Daisy is just the sort of woman they need, and while she's not certain at first, Daisy plays along and soon finds she quite enjoys her new hobby; she's even given an appropriate new nickname, "Mistress Great White Jellyfish." While Daisy is enthusiastically learning the "way of the warrior" without telling her husband, Kenny starts to think something funny is going on, coming to the conclusion that his wife's mind had been overtaken by space aliens. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Imogen Kimmel's Secret Society is a quirky domestic drama with a good-spiritedness that keeps it far from the realm of so many gross-out comedies targeting fat people. Though it's warm and refreshing to see large women on the big screen portrayed with sensitivity, the film unfortunately suffers from a weak screenplay and shoddy production. As Daisy, Charlotte Brittain is totally convincing as a working-class Yorkshire woman trying to make ends meet by working in a factory. She honestly seems uncomfortable in her skin, especially with her dimwitted yet doting husband Kenny (Lee Ross) excessively fetishizing her ample proportions. However, her evolution into Mistress Great White Jellyfish isn't quite believable due to a lack of sumo wrestling scenes. Too much screen time goes to the lame subplot of Kenny's decent into alcoholism and UFO obsession. The stale dialogue and feeble editing techniques could've been overlooked by some sorely needed visceral sumo action. The excellent costumes, make-up, and physical presence of the women is visually effective but unfortunately underused. To be fair, this labor-of-love took over six years to secure enough funding, so the low production values can be somewhat excused. A movie about a meek housewife's transition into an empowered sumo wrestler could've been more rewarding, but at least somebody had the guts to give it a try. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Cast
Charlotte Brittain - Daisy
Lee Ross - Kenny
Annette Badland - Marlene
James Hooton
Charles Dale; Sharon Duce
Credit
Erwin C. Dietrich - Co-producer, Ralph Dietrich - Co-producer, Susannah Buxton - Costume Designer, Richard Lingard - First Assistant Director, Katharina Schmidt - Editor, Guy Collins - Executive Producer, Denis Heroux - Executive Producer, Phil Alberstat - Executive Producer, Eddy Andres - Production Designer, Glynn Speeckaert - Cinematographer, David Pupkewitz - Producer, Vesna Jovanoska - Producer
