R, 82 min.
Director/Writer: Zachary
Heinzerling
Featuring: Noriko Shinohara,
Ushio Shinohara, Alex Shinohara
One of the 2014 Oscar
nominees for Feature Documentary, “Cutie and the Boxer” is a surprising grand
romance. It tells the story of the 40-year relationship between Ushio
Shinohara, the well known if under appreciated “boxing” artist, and his wife
Noriko. Ushio became famous in Japan for his unique radical style of painting,
which involved donning boxing gloves with sponges tied to the fists and
punching his paint onto the canvas. Ushio immigrated to the United States to
try his wares in New York City. Adding cardboard-based sculpturing to his
repertoire, the reputation of his unique style was well known in the art world,
but he never had much luck with sales.
Noriko’s story is told
through her own artistic creation, a line art character she calls Cutie and her
lover Bullie. The characters are obviously autobiographical and have only
recently come to light, as Noriko spent much of her life serving Ushio as his
assistant. She came to New York to study art and met Ushio, who is an
alcoholic. Between his drinking binges and using Noriko for her family’s money,
Ushio was a difficult man to live with. After the birth of a child, Noriko put
her dreams on hold to try to raise the boy as best she could in an environment
of drinking and philosophizing artists that was not very family friendly.
Studying the couple today,
filmmaker Zachary Heinzerling, has discovered two artists who have been through
battle together, pretty much with each other, but they’ve settled into their
lives of near poverty conditions, trying to make rent and keep the lights on
while scrounging to find exhibitors and buyers for Ushio’s work. The main event
of the film is a new exhibit in which Noriko will finally show her work along
with Ushio’s. This newfound attention gives Noriko an independence she’s never
had the freedom to experience but has always dreamed of. The couple is
seasoned, so despite the changing roles, their love stays strong.
As it began, the film seemed
a fine portrait of these two people, but nothing special. As the events build,
however, Heinzerling takes us deeper into their actual artwork and their story
becomes richer, as does their turbulent but solid love for each other. I liked
her artwork better than his, although his sculptures are quite amazing.
Watching him work is one of the more fascinating elements of the movie. Seeing
how he judges himself as he works his paintings, which seem random at first, is
a window into what it is to be a tortured artist.
It is perhaps their son who
is the most tortured, however. We see him twice. The first time he seems to
have showed up just to get drunk on his parents’ wine. The second time he shows
the filmmakers a couple of his own paintings. They are the best of the bunch.
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