“Keep your cool!” yells the ageing, secretly ailing trainer Jin to his young protégé Shogo during boxing matches. But that's easier said than done. Everyone in One Last Bloom carries the emotional baggage of dysfunctional family backgrounds, missed opportunities and the strange peril attached to any second chance.
One Last Bloom of course brings to mind the dilemmas and dynamics of Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004) and the Rocky series, with breathtaking choreography of the sparring and a story that builds towards the final, title bout. The film holds firm to its particular naturalistic, anti-sensationalist and engaging depiction of fighting and the preparation it takes alike.
The prolific director Takahisa Zeze has forged a career spanning ‘pink porno' (his Tokyo X Erotica was enthusiastically greeted by the IFFR audiences in 2002) and highly successful mainstream fare. For him, whatever the genre, the goal is always the same: to engage the audience in the exploration of human psychology and behaviour. It is only natural that with detailed, touching performances and a quiet, observational style, One Last Bloom similarly interweaves moody introspection and rousing action with a masterly grace. (Adrian Martin)
