Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie Review

The circle of life.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 4, 2014

The world is filled with examples of "art imitating life" and "life imitating art." The two go hand-in-hand, both human creations and both with the claim that they can be whatever one makes of them. Man can sculpt his body, inform his mind, and satisfy his soul, and one avenue of doing so is through art, art in which he in turn gives a little bit of himself on the way to the finished product. Indeed, man can be anything he makes himself, and art can be anything man makes it, so who's to say what is a "proper life" or "proper art?" One defines the other, and invariably both are shaped by the other, both often created through passion, formed from experiences, inspiring to some, repulsive to others, some long forgotten, others preserved for the benefit of history so they may continue to nurture growth in future generations. Cutie and the Boxer is a film of the merging of art and life, a picture about the creators, the life they share and the art they shape. It's a story about passion, fulfilling a promise, striving to succeed, taking what life gives, and working to make it better. It's a picture bound to surprise and inspire, a showcase of artistic talent but also a portrait of lives dedicated to art and art made in the image of unique interpretations of life.

Art.

The film follows Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, an elderly artistic couple -- he a fair bit older than she -- as they live, work, and squabble in their New York studio. He is a "boxing" artist, soaking his gloves in paint and punching his canvas, splattering his paint into a form only each individual interpreter can discern. He also sculpts and frequently makes cardboard his medium of choice. She hand-draws a series of pictures -- she calls them "Cutie and the Bullie" -- depicting her life in the United States with Ushio. While they struggle to get by, as they try to sell their work for the highest price, as they push to have their art shown to an audience in a proper gallery setting, they also expose their personal lives for the camera. The picture details their relationship as it was and is, told through vintage documentary footage, Noriko's "Cutie" series, and through the life of their son Alex who, like his father, struggles with alcoholism and, like his parents, shows great promise as an artist.

Director Zachary Heinzerling's Cuite and the Boxer certainly wins the award for "most unique title" and "most unique poster art" of the year. But it's significantly more than its rather loud superficialities. Though the film follows the everyday comings and goings of the classic "starving artists" -- depicting the dealing with buyers and gallery representatives, the couples' own squabbling over the sell value of their art, and, of course, the actual portrayals of them in action -- there's a deeper, relatable real life quality to the film. It brings the audience intimately into their world, exploring the nature and evolution of their relationship as artists and individuals and does so with an air of originality and candor that isn't always found in the Documentary world. The film is charming, funny, and moving all at once, a compact but detailed journey through two lives connected by marriage and a shared passion but in many ways as distant as they are close together.

The film's study of the intersection of life and art is what sets it apart from others. Without one, there is no other, and the picture subtly hints at that throughout. One can see the emotions on display in the works, not necessarily in the act of creating them -- though there's certainly plenty to read into Ushio's aggressive style -- but in the final works, in the rather violent, unorthodox, paintings and sculptures that come from Ushio's handiwork and Noriko's suggestive and candid drawings, there's plenty of room for interpretation. There's a story with every one, and even if that story is merely "to pay the bills" or "experiment" or "emotions to canvas" or "for the love of art," the Shinoharas' work certainly elicits a wide range of reactions, both separately and within whatever context the film builds with each work. It's a fascinating journey into a world that demands a special sort of person inhabit it, never mind succeed in it. While the Shinoharas' success is relative -- be it public recognition, monetary gain, or personal satisfaction -- and up for debate, the film opens new perspectives on life and art that other films haven't yet explored.

Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cutie and the Boxer features a good, even high definition transfer. Anchor Bay's presentation is comprised of several sources, the most prominent being a standard HD video canvas. Bright colors and crystal-clear details shape the majority of the image. The paintings are bold and colorful -- Alex's work in particular showcases a myriad of well-defined hues -- and the splashed remnants of paintings past that line the floors and walls give a wonderfully colorful texture to the movie. Details here are equally excellent. The image is firm and clear, capturing intimate facial and clothing details, not to mention artwork, with impressive precision. As for the other pieces, the hand-drawn pictures are well defined and crisp, and the vintage footage is expectedly raw but pleasantly precise. Overall, this is a strong, accurate presentation from Anchor Bay.

Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cutie and the Boxer's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack only infrequently offers more than general dialogue. The spoken word -- both English and Japanese (included are optional English subtitles) -- plays clearly and evenly from the center channel. Musical support is generally well defined and nicely spacious, though it can mostly be located across the front. Some heavy thumps accompany both various musical selections and Ushio's boxing artwork. Some instances of bass are a bit too harsh, yielding unkempt vibrations and rattles rather than tight, accurate rumblings. Overall, however, the track suits the material well enough.

Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cutie and the Boxer contains several extras, including deleted scenes, a vintage film, and a Q&A with the filmmakers and their subjects.

• Deleted Scenes (HD): Daily Routines (2:56), "I Don't Look Back" (1:39), In the Swimming Pool (2:00), The Fish (1:37), and Sleeping Arrangements (1:13).
• Shinohara The Last Artist by Rod McCall (HD, 23:17): A vintage film featuring a younger Ushio Shinohara.
• Q&A at the Sundance Film Festival (HD, 8:06): Executive Producer Kiki Miyake, Director Zachary Heinzerling, and Ushio and Noriko Shinohara field questions before an audience.
• Action is Art: A Study of Ushio Shinohara's Boxing Painting (HD, 3:39): An intriguing but all-too-brief look at Shinohara's unique painting style, depicted in ultra slow-motion.

Cutie and the Boxer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Don't let the off-the-cuff exteriors -- the title and the cover art -- give a negative first impression. Cutie and the Boxer is a fascinating film of art and life intertwined and told from two perspectives that are shaped by decades of shared experience but not necessarily shared perspectives. The art may not be for all tastes, but the film certainly brings to light the artist's life in a way it's rarely been seen before. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Cutie and the Boxer features quality video and fair audio. A few extras help make this a recommended release.