Few movies manage to capture the intense emotion and aggression of sport the way that boxing films do. You'd think there's little room to manoeuvre in terms of depicting this deceptively straightforward sport, yet filmmakers all over the world have enraptured audiences time and time again with tales of battered warriors fighting the ultimate zero to hero battle. The allure of boxing films means it's no surprise that less than six months after the wildly successful “Rocky” (1976) made its debut in Japan, Shuji Terayama's “The Boxer” landed on the scene.
The Boxer screened at Japanese Avant-Garde and Experimental Film Festival
Having given up boxing mid-match on his road to glory, the grizzled and distant Hayato (Bunta Sugawara) is struck by tragedy when his brother is killed in an accident. The man responsible, Tenma (Kentaro Shimizu), is an aspiring boxer in training, though a damaged foot means he's at a severe disadvantage in the ring. After a period of animosity, Hayato agrees to take Tenma under his wing and train him to be a champion. However, tensions between the two mean that the path to success is riddled with challenges.
If you've ever seen a boxing movie or any sports film in general for that matter, you're likely to be familiar with the narrative presented in “The Boxer”. After a surprising yet somewhat consequence-less opening, the film soon settles into the typical ‘jaded ex-pro takes angry young fighter under his wing' plot. Familiarity with such a story is likely due to the slew of similarly framed sports stories put to the silver screen in more recent years. Still, Terayama's film does little to distinguish itself, even when given the benefit of the doubt.
What's perhaps most disengaging about “The Boxer” is the lack of meaningful development attributed to any of the main characters. Hayato's sketchy past and personal issues are alluded to throughout, yet we never really get into the crux of what makes him tick. Similarly, Tenma is a rather two-dimensional hero, with the character having little personality outside of wanting to box. It doesn't help that a major plot development early in the film that should put the duo at odds is brushed over in an instant, making the whole relationship difficult to buy into.
A lack of characterisation would be tolerable if the film was consistently entertaining, yet there is a notable drag for the entirety of the second act where no real plot development occurs outside of a few training montages. This lack of intensity makes it difficult to get invested in any of the subsequent fight scenes that happen closer to the film's climax, as, by the time they come around, you've lost interest. That being said, the stakes are much higher for the finale itself, with Tenma's championship fight being a tense affair.
Terayama does manage to make the film visually engaging to an extent. A beautifully shot opening sequence that transitions from monochrome to full colour is eye-popping, and the boxing matches are well helmed with the director shooting them in documentary-style. Also enjoyable are the performances across the board, with the dependable Bunta Sugawara being the most likeable onscreen presence in what is an oddly charismatic role.
In terms of boxing movies, Shuji Terayama's “The Boxer” is about as vanilla as it gets. It competently tells the tale of a young athlete overcoming personal strife to become the champion of his dreams, but a distinct lack of substance leaves you wanting. It's a shame as all the right ingredients are there, what with Sugawara in the lead and the skilled Terayama behind the camera, whose artistry does burst through in moments. With a little more heart and urgency, “The Boxer” could have been a great of the boxing sub-genre, but as it stands, it's a lightweight effort.
