Cutie and the Boxer | キューティー＆ボクサー

Director: Zachary Heinzerling

Writer: Zachary Heinzerling

Stars: Ushio Shinohara, Noriko Shinohara, Alex Shinohara
2013/USA

★★★★★

This fascinating documentary film about a Japanese contemporary artist Ushio Shinohara (Gyu-chan) in New York and his wife Noriko who is also an artist, and their marriage life for over 40 years was broadcasted on BBC4 about 10 days ago. It may be one of the most romantic film I've seen recently. The film was so powerful that it still sticks in my head.

When Noriko was 19, she went to New York, met Gyu-chan who was much older than her, and fell in love with him. They got married and had a son. But Gyu-chan's first and only priority was art. He couldn't sell his works and drank a lot. She had no choice but played roles as a wife, a mother, and an assistant. It was difficult for her to find the time for her own art. Gradually, she found a way to express herself by drawing their marriage life through the characters Cutie and Bully that reflect her and her husband.

Oh dear, Gyu-chan is a typical Peter Pan! Yes he's an interesting artist, but as a partner to make living together...??? I'm surprised that their marriage has survived so long.  Perhaps it's because there is a strong bond between them as artists..

My favourite scene is where Gyu-chan went off to Japan even though they didn't have enough money. Noriko saw him off with a lot of complaints, but when he got back, she dashed to the front door. She loves him so much, doesn't she!

In this film, the story was told from Noriko's viewpoint. I'm also interested to hear the story from Gyu-chan's point of view.


10日ほど前に、ニューヨークに暮らす日本人現代芸術家、篠原有司男氏（通称ギュウチャン）とその妻で自身も芸術家である乃り子さんの40年間にわたる結婚生活をめぐるドキュメンタリー映画をBBC4で観ました。
最近観た映画の中で一番ロマンチックだったかも。
なんだかガツンときて、未だに気が付くとこの映画のことを考えてます。

19歳でニューヨークに渡った乃り子さんは、親子ほども年の違うギュウチャンと出会って恋に落ちます。やがて2人は結婚して息子が誕生。
が、ギュウチャンの頭の中は芸術のことばかり。しかも、作品は売れず、飲んだくれの日々。。
乃り子さんは妻、母、そしてアシスタントという役割をこなしながら、自身の製作の喜びからは遠ざかった生活を余儀なくされます。
やがて 乃り子さんは、自分たちを投影したキューティとブリーというキャラクターをとおして結婚生活をドローイングで描く、という自身のアートを見つけます。

もうねー、このギュウチャンが、典型的なピーターパンなわけですよ。
芸術家しては尊敬できるけど、一緒に暮らすパートナーとしてはどうなんだ、と。
でもねー、2人の結婚生活を支えたのは芸術家同士の強い絆だったのかなー。

一番好きだったのは、お金もないのに日本に行っちゃったギュウチャンをぶーぶー言いながら送り出した乃り子さんが、帰ってきた彼を玄関まで走って迎えに行くシーン。
大好きなんですねー、ギュウチャンのことが！

この映画の視点は乃り子さんだったんだけど、ギュウチャンから見た結婚生活の話も聞いてみたい。

Wating for the sun.. | 太陽を待ちわびて。。

The sun came out last Sunday after how long I can't remember! I popped out for a short walk into the woods.

日曜日、いつぶりだか思い出せないくらい久しぶりに太陽が顔を出しました！ ちょっくら森へお散歩に出かけましたよ。

A lake appeared in the field after so much rain over last two months.
2カ月以上続いた雨で、フィールドの真中に湖が出現。

Slowly but steady. Spring is on its way.
少しずつ春の気配。ゆっくりと着実に。

The flowers have started to bloom in our garden.

庭の花も咲き始めてます。

Snow drops
英国に早春の訪れを告げる花、スノードロップ。

Crocuses. A lot of them!
たくさんのクロッカス！

We've had so much rain this winter (too much!). I just hope that the areas affected by flooding go back to normal as soon as possible..

今年の冬は本当に雨、雨、雨、そして雨。洪水の被害にあった地域が少しでも早く日常を取り戻しますように。。

East Side Stories | 日本映画三昧

Earlier this month, there was an annual Japanese cinema event called "East Side Stories, Japanese Cinema Depicting the Lives of Youth" organized by the Japan Foundation.

When I started living in the UK 8 years ago, the only Japanese films I could see in the cinema were classics such as Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Ozu, etc (and I took the opportunities to discover those masterpieces). But now there are more chances to see contemporary Japanese films to ease my homesickness.

This time 11 films showed at the ICA. Unfortunately the dates overlapped with my Paris trip, but I managed to see two of them.

今月の頭に、ジャパン・ファンデーション主催の日本映画上映イベント「East Side Stories, Japanese Cinema Depicting the Lives of Youth」がありました。

英国に住み始めた8年前、映画館で観られる日本映画といえば、黒澤、溝口、小津、といった巨匠の名作のみでした（ここで「日本映画、すごい！」と名作邦画の魅力に開眼したわけですが）。最近では新作邦画がちょくちょく上映されるようになってホームシックを癒してくれてます。

今回はロンドンの映画館 ICA で 11 本も上映されたわけですが、残念ながら期間がパリ旅行とほぼ被っておりました。。でも、なんとか2本観てきましたよー。

Otakus in Love | 恋の門

Director: Matsuo Suzuki

Writer: Matsuo Suzuki

Stars: Matsuda Ryuhei, Sakai Wakana, Matsuo Suzuki

★★★★☆

This comedy film pays homage to Japanese Otaku culture. 

The main character Mon (Matsuda Ryuhei) meets a cute girl Koino (Sakai Wakana) who turns out to be very into manga and dressing like a manga character. It was interesting that even though Mon himself was quite a geek (he creates "art" from stones which nobody understood), he was the one who gave us our viewpoint toward the Otaku world (his role was not unlike John Watson in "Sherlock").

It was raher a long film (114 min) but I just kept laughing throughout. The film itself was a bit like a comic so it could have been too cheesy if the direction had gone wrong (but it was spot-on!).

日本のオタク文化へのオマージュ、といった映画。

松田龍平演じる主人公、門は、酒井若菜演じるかわいらしい女の子、恋乃と知り合うわけですが、彼女、筋金入りのオタクなのです。 門自身もキャラが濃い（石で "芸術" 漫画を製作するも、誰にも理解されず。。）にも関わらず、観客が濃ゆいオタク世界に対する視点を門と共有するようになってるのが面白い。

結構長い映画（114分）だったのですが、ひらすら笑ってました。映画全体が劇画調だったので、やり過ぎても、抑え過ぎてもつまらなくなってたと思うのですが、この辺り、松尾スズキ氏の匙加減が絶妙でした！

Capturing Dad | チチを撮りに
Director: Nakano Ryota
Writer: Nakano Ryota
Stars: Watanabe Makiko, Yanagi Erisa, Matsubara Nanoka
★★★★☆

This film is also a comedy and about two young sisters who live with their mum. Their dad left them for another woman 14 years ago and they haven't seen him since.

One day, there was a phone call from their uncle telling them that their dad was in his death bed. Their mum asked them to see him and take a picture of him. But when they arrived at his town, he'd already passed away and their half brother was waiting for them...

The actresses played these sisters in a very natural and low- key way. The film almost felt like a documentary.

 I loved the quirky ending!

こちらの映画もコメディ。母親と暮らす姉妹のお話です。父親は14年前に女の人を作って家を出ていて、それ以来一度も会っていません。

ある日、叔父から電話がかかってきて、父親がもう長くないことが告げられます。母親は姉妹にお見舞いに行って、写真を撮って来て欲しいと頼みます。ところが、姉妹が父親が住む町に到着すると、父親はすでに亡くなっており、腹違いの弟が待っていて。。

この姉妹の演技がすごーく自然で淡々としていて、ほとんどドキュメンタリーの趣でした。

意表を突くラストも良かった！