Boxing to exist. This is what the heroine of The beauty of the gesture by Sho Miyake. This young deaf woman, freely inspired by the hard of hearing athlete Keiko Ogasawara, shares her life between the ring and a large hotel where she is a chambermaid. It is only by fighting that she can exteriorize her frustrations in a district of the suburbs of Tokyo where she goes unnoticed.
In the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic where everyone is masked, this passionate young woman can no longer even read lips. His loneliness is only cheated by his mother, his brother and his mentor, an old trainer who suffers from health problems. Her “difference” makes life difficult both on a daily basis and in a gymnasium where the other students are jealous of the attention given to this athlete like no other.
A portrait of a strong woman
“Sports films, and more particularly boxing films, defend the idea that efforts always end up bearing fruit,” explains the director. I tend to think that life is not that simple. I find it more interesting to observe the impact of the obstacles that we encounter, how we recover from them or not. He focuses on the heroine’s choices when she learns that her gym is going to close after she has managed to turn professional.
Filmed on 16 mm film which makes the image deliberately grainy, The beauty of the gesture deserves its title by scrutinizing the movements worthy of a musical that the heroine practices in search of perfection. More than a film about sport and surpassing oneself, Sho Miyake questions the weight of the decisions that existence forces us to make. A minimalist, but overworked soundtrack perfectly reflects the isolation of the protagonist. The filmmaker also aims his lens at an unknown suburb of Tokyo whose dark buildings reinforce the cocoon side of the gymnasium.
In the pantheon of film boxers
Keiko discreetly enters the pantheon of cinematic boxers. Like Michelle Rodriguez in girl fight by Karyn Kusama or Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby by Clint Eastwood, Yukino Kishii imposes herself in fights as well as in more intimate scenes. She often knocks the spectator out. by his accuracy and his way of expressing himself through his gestures alone.