CUTIE AND THE BOXER (DOCUMENTARY FILM)
Summary
This Academy Award-nominated documentary film follows the careers and tumultuous 40-year marriage of New York-based artists Noriko and Ushio Shinohara. Noriko awakens her husband on his eightieth birthday, and after a brief celebration he heads to his studio to create his trademark "action art," in which he wears padded boxing gloves covered in paint and "boxes" with a blank canvas, creating a kinetic splatter style. Noriko acts as assistant, taking still photos, and later tell Ushio that they are behind on their rent and utilities payments. Ushio rushes to complete his other works, including a huge cardboard motorcycle, in order to hopefully sell it at an upcoming show. Noriko helps him, as it is "an emergency," but resents being thought of as "just an assistant." She simultaneously creates her own work, an illustrated story done in pen and watercolor about a married couple, "Cutie and Bullie," clearly based on her own relationship with Ushio. In the story, 19-year-old Cutie arrives in New York City from Japan and is immediately taken with the 41-year-old Bullie when she visits his SoHo studio. The couple banters over dinner as Noriko chastises Ushio for making a mess of her meal, and Ushio comments that an artist's first work is usually his best. He and several assistants move the cardboard motorcycle to a gallery in pieces, and art dealer Ethan Cohen talks about his new show, entitled "Wham! Pow! Vrooom!"
Clips are shown of a 1971 news documentary about Ushio and his quick rise to fame in the art world after arriving from Tokyo, where he was known for imitating American pop art. At the gallery opening, Ushio talks to guests about his work and process, while at the same time Noriko continues working on Cutie. In the story, Bullie encourages and quickly romances Cutie, though exploits her financially as well. Noriko explains that she bonded with the "open-hearted" Ushio over a mutual dedication to art. A curator from the Guggenheim Museum comes to view Ushio's works for a future show, and Noriko assists in choosing the best pieces to display. The curator is intrigued by his style, though Noriko admits that he drunkenly promised one particular piece to a friend and therefore cannot sell it. The animation shows Bullie partying and drinking with his friends, leaving Cutie to clean up, and Noriko explains that she became pregnant with their son after only six months and lost her joy of painting as she struggled to raise her child and deal with Ushio's alcoholism. Their adult son, Alex, stops by for a visit, and it is soon clear that he has drinking problems of his own, which frustrates Noriko.
Ushio decides to travel to Japan to sell some pieces, and Noriko reminds him that he must ask at least $10,000 to cover their expenses. While he is gone, Noriko takes some dance classes and notes that her life is more quiet and peaceful without him. She invites a friend to examine her progress on the Cutie story, noting that it does not have "a Hollywood-style happy ending," and Alex shows his mother his own works, including a vivid self-portrait. Ushio returns and proudly hands Noriko $3,600 in cash, and they later stroll through Brooklyn's botanical gardens. Another gallery owner, Shuhei, stops by to examine Ushio's work, and Noriko is pleased when he decides to show her work alongside her husband's in a show. She begins creating "big Cuties" on wall-sized canvases, and Ushio admits that he is jealous of her creation. Noriko comments that Cutie eventually "tames" Bullie in the story, though in real life things are less simple. The Guggenheim opts not to buy Ushio's piece after all, and Ushio is frustrated with his newest work, particularly when Noriko states that she dislikes it. Footage is shown of a younger, heavily inebriated Ushio growing hysterical over his frustration about the pressures of art, and he concludes that "art is a demon."
Ushio pursues some new ideas, and Noriko states that they are like "two flowers in one pot," sometimes struggling to overtake the other. He creates another action painting as Noriko finishes the Cutie story, and Ushio decides on the title "ROARRR!" for the show. Noriko expands it to "Love is a ROARRR!", however, and matter-of-factly explains her choice to Ushio, who is taken aback and finally admits that he needs her as far more than just an assistant. Noriko opines that opposites attract and that she and Ushio have always loved each other despite their problems, crediting her own "endurance" for their long marriage. At the show, the many guests express their admiration for the Cutie works, and Noriko concludes that the "constant struggle" of their relationship has been formative and beneficial to her art, and that she would do it all over again. The film concludes with Noriko and Ushio "boxing" in slow-motion, splattering one another with colorful paint.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 2012
- RUNNING TIME: 1:21:43
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114027
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: Documentary; Art; Marriage
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Kiki Miyake … Executive Producer
- Lydia Dean Pilcher … Producer
- Patrick Burns … Producer
- Sierra Pettengill … Producer
- Ezra Edelman … Co-Producer
- Caroline Waterlow … Co-Producer
- Mark Steele … Co-Producer
- Leslie McCartney … VFX Executive Producer
- Maggie Burns … Associate Producer
- Ryuhei Shindo … Associate Producer
- Svetlana Zill … Consulting Producer
- Veronica Balta … Consulting Producer
- Caitlin Tartaro … Digitial Intermediate Producer
- Zachary Heinzerling … Director, Writer
- Yasuaki Shimizu … Music by
- Noriko Shinohara … Interviewee
- Ushio "Gyu-Chan" Shinohara … Interviewee
- Ethan Cohen … Interviewee
- Alexander Kukai Shinohara