I'm Anthony and it's time for another Screening Room.
We watch a movie, review it, and talk about it in the comments.
All the movies we watch are available on Netflix in the US- if you wanna watch along with us
and help support DNews, just head to netflix.com/dnews and sign up for a free trial membership.
Today we're taking a look at Cutie and the Boxer, which is one of this year's Oscar Nominees
for Best Documentary.
It takes a look at the lives of artists Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, who met in the 1960s,
when Noriko moved from Japan to New York to become an art student and Ushio was big in
the underground art scene.
Ushio was 42 and Noriko was 19.
The movie begins on Ushio's 80th birthday- and by jumping back and forth through their
lives, Cutie and the Boxer tells an amazing story about marriage, family, and the art
world.
Ushio's art has always been regarded as influential and flashbacks show him with people like Andy
Warhol, but he and Noriko live pretty much in poverty- and while he doesn't seem to care
and barely thinks about paying the electric bill, Noriko is tired of living their lives
with too little.
Her own work has also been pushed aside, because Ushio considers his work important and he's
tried their whole life to push her into the role of loving wife and assistant- even when
her own art is starting to take off and become more popular than his.
One of my favorite things about the movie is just how well it captures the depth of
this decades old relationship.
They love each other, but they have no filter- they don't censor themselves whether it comes
to talking about each other's work or what they feel like their lives would've been like
if the other hadn't messed it up- but they also show how clearly they need each other
and care about one another.
It's also a great depiction of what it means to really love and become obsessed with your
work and how creativity has to be its own reward, because no other reward might be coming.
It's an absolutely beautiful story, and if you're interested in personal stories or the
creative process, I think you'll really love it.
Okay, your turn- the movie's available now on Netflix in the US, not sure about other
countries.
If you want to check it out and help the show, sign up for a free netflix trial at netflix.com/dnews
and then let me know what you thought of Cutie and the Boxer in the comments- and be sure
to subscribe for more DNews.