In the documentary Cutie and the Boxer, I like how the movie portrayed how the couple met through one of Cutie’s sketches, almost like an animation. I also like how right before the scene that portrays how they met we get to see how Ushio views their relationship even though it is through Noriko’s sketches. We also see Noriko’s viewpoint through drawings. Through the drawing we learn they met when Noriko was 19 and Ushio is 41. Throughout the film we see how the age gap has affected their relationship. Another scene I think was powerful in the beginning is when Noriko is boxing because of the music that sets up the scene. The piece of art work the boxing makes is abstract and it can be interpreted in many ways depending on the viewpoint of different people. I like how the music sets up the different themes that the artwork could represent to different people.
As the movie continues, we see flashbacks of how these artworks influenced Japanese art as a new art style. In the beginning Ushio’s artwork didn’t sell, even though people described him as a leader in Japanese avant-garde art work because it displays rebellion. His artwork is famous for being amazing in spite of being made by a poor artist who never sold most of his pieces. Even though they were popular in Japan and New York, he was a poor artist.
I like how throughout the movie the past is portrayed through Noriko’s drawings. We learn also through her artwork what she’s feeling and thinking. She portrays her thoughts through art and we even see this at times where she feels regrets. I also like how her thoughts are portrayed for the present through other elements, for example, the cat. We can see through her drawing and from the movie how impactful art can be on her decisions. We can also see in the film how Ushio’s opinion of Noriko is as an assistant rather than an artist. This can be interesting because her desire is to be an artist and she has a huge passion for art.
As we get more into the movie we learn through the drawings how Ushio’s actions affected Noriko’s life. We learn that due to his alcoholism and partying when they had a child six months after they met, she soon had to give up her painting dream in order to take care of the family. I like how the drawings portray how the events happen but also add her present thought and changes she wish she made or information she wish she knew. What I like about the film is the movie doesn’t focus particularly on the artwork or how artwork changed their relationship. Instead the movie focuses on the development of the relationship over time and the impact the relationship had on the artwork.
We also see the difference in personalities when the other person is not around. This can affect the artwork in a positive way and the artwork is portrayed more positively. What I mean by this is the characters are suddenly happier or the colors seem brighter. We can see throughout the film that sometimes Ushio’s artwork overshadows Noriko and when she does get her chance to display her artwork its always connected through Ushio artwork which in a way can minimize her talents. The most interesting part of the movie is when Ushio said, “we are the ones suffering most from the art.” This is interesting because his artwork is impacting many people and he believes making his artwork is amazing but because of all the effort he puts into his artwork he doesn’t have much room for much else. I find this interesting because of how this concept can be applied to many things in life and it shows the viewers the importance of balance. I like how even though Ushio put Noriko through a lot she states how it made her stronger as a person which helped her to become a better artist. What I like most about this is even though she states some of the things she could have changed we realize that her struggles helped her to become a better artist. We also learn that even though it has its ups and downs she wouldn’t change her relationship because of the power behind it. One change I would have made about the movie would have been to focus a little bit more on the artwork. We see the process of some of the artwork and some glimpses of others but we don’t get to see the meaning or hear Ushio talk about the artwork in any way. I liked how the movie wrapped up with them both fighting with the paint. Along with the fact that the ending showed Noriko getting a chance to display her artwork even if it wad related to Ushio. This helped convey the idea of them both being seen as equals.
