Never (perhaps a slight exaggeration) has a film matched its title (English version, anyway) as much as Sho Miyake's "Small, Slow but Steady". The Japanese like an understated boxing drama, and this is certainly that, matching its lead in its sheer unremarkable nature, but therein lies its charm.
Keiko (Yukino Kishii) is a boxer born deaf - a hinderance in the game, as The Chairman of her gym (Tomokazu Miura) highlights. He also laments her lack of distinctive style and poor reach. But she's honest and tries her best. Keiko, who works as a hotel cleaner to supplement her fledgeling boxing career, doesn't stand out, and her lack of speech furthers this. Unaware as to what is going on around her, she simply keeps her head down and carries on. An honest person whom life dealt a bad hand.
But this niceness is part of a larger problem. While her gym has fame, it is now old, on the outskirts of the city and COVID has hit it hard. Boxers are leaving the gym to fight elsewhere, with the otherwise ordinary Keiko their only draw. But the ever-diligent fighter becomes unsure of herself when her hearing impairment and lack of underhand tactics get the better of her.
Humble is a word to describe this film, from Keiko's boxing style and demeanour, earnest approach to her work and training, but also the location in Tokyo. More industrial, downtrodden neighbourhoods form the backdrop for the dilapidated gym and surrounding areas where Keiko does much of her training. The gym itself is on its last legs, as boxers flood out and no one lined up to take over from the ageing Chairman.
This is exemplified by Keiko's search for a new gym taking her to a more central, modern and clean gym. The gym owner's (Makiko Watanabe) bold personality seems at odds with Keiko's; giving the excuse that the gym is 'too far.' This disappoints her coaches, but they know it to be Keiko's way. She is happy where she is.
But this will soon change as the gym approaches closing. Her last fight saw her lack of 'dark arts' end in defeat. Unable to hear the bell, she becomes confused, and her opponent uses some of boxing's oldest tricks to steal a victory. She feels cheated, and a world of unsporting behaviour to progress is not a direction she wants to take. Seeing the fighter away from the ring, humbly thanking her for the fight, however, perhaps gives her a different perspective.
This matches Miyake's most notable previous work "And You Bird Can Sing" (2018), with dim lighting, slow-pacing and characters struggling to find their own little place in the world. It also features a small-scale world, where characters live within their own limits. The industrial shots of Tokyo's suburban areas are the film's star, a point Miyake hammers home as they adorn the end credits and feel a naturally perfect way to end proceedings.
Kishii is the centre of this world, and holds things together well in the roll of keeping calm and carrying on; naturally charming those around her. But like Keiko, the humble nature means this isn't quite a knock-out, yet a pleasing, gentle tale. It doesn't try to be anything else, however, like its lead.
COVID will inevitably dominate much cinema set in the present, and this shows a small-scale impact of a gym forced to close and fights in empty venues. Like much of Japanese boxing cinema, the gym is the central location with some satisfying sparring scenes; and bouts in the ring kept to a minimum, yet realistic in their portrayal, never glamourising the sport.
A small world. A slow pacing. A steady piece of work. Points victory.
Politic1983.home.blog.
Keiko (Yukino Kishii) is a boxer born deaf - a hinderance in the game, as The Chairman of her gym (Tomokazu Miura) highlights. He also laments her lack of distinctive style and poor reach. But she's honest and tries her best. Keiko, who works as a hotel cleaner to supplement her fledgeling boxing career, doesn't stand out, and her lack of speech furthers this. Unaware as to what is going on around her, she simply keeps her head down and carries on. An honest person whom life dealt a bad hand.
But this niceness is part of a larger problem. While her gym has fame, it is now old, on the outskirts of the city and COVID has hit it hard. Boxers are leaving the gym to fight elsewhere, with the otherwise ordinary Keiko their only draw. But the ever-diligent fighter becomes unsure of herself when her hearing impairment and lack of underhand tactics get the better of her.
Humble is a word to describe this film, from Keiko's boxing style and demeanour, earnest approach to her work and training, but also the location in Tokyo. More industrial, downtrodden neighbourhoods form the backdrop for the dilapidated gym and surrounding areas where Keiko does much of her training. The gym itself is on its last legs, as boxers flood out and no one lined up to take over from the ageing Chairman.
This is exemplified by Keiko's search for a new gym taking her to a more central, modern and clean gym. The gym owner's (Makiko Watanabe) bold personality seems at odds with Keiko's; giving the excuse that the gym is 'too far.' This disappoints her coaches, but they know it to be Keiko's way. She is happy where she is.
But this will soon change as the gym approaches closing. Her last fight saw her lack of 'dark arts' end in defeat. Unable to hear the bell, she becomes confused, and her opponent uses some of boxing's oldest tricks to steal a victory. She feels cheated, and a world of unsporting behaviour to progress is not a direction she wants to take. Seeing the fighter away from the ring, humbly thanking her for the fight, however, perhaps gives her a different perspective.
This matches Miyake's most notable previous work "And You Bird Can Sing" (2018), with dim lighting, slow-pacing and characters struggling to find their own little place in the world. It also features a small-scale world, where characters live within their own limits. The industrial shots of Tokyo's suburban areas are the film's star, a point Miyake hammers home as they adorn the end credits and feel a naturally perfect way to end proceedings.
Kishii is the centre of this world, and holds things together well in the roll of keeping calm and carrying on; naturally charming those around her. But like Keiko, the humble nature means this isn't quite a knock-out, yet a pleasing, gentle tale. It doesn't try to be anything else, however, like its lead.
COVID will inevitably dominate much cinema set in the present, and this shows a small-scale impact of a gym forced to close and fights in empty venues. Like much of Japanese boxing cinema, the gym is the central location with some satisfying sparring scenes; and bouts in the ring kept to a minimum, yet realistic in their portrayal, never glamourising the sport.
A small world. A slow pacing. A steady piece of work. Points victory.
Politic1983.home.blog.
