Love. Sacrifice. Survival. Art is a demon that can take over your life. A reflection on love, sacrifice, and the creative spirit, this candid New York story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of renowned "boxing" painter Ushio Shinohara and his artist wife, Noriko. As a young artist in Tokyo, Ushio seemed destined for fame, but met with little commercial success after he moved to New York City in 1969. When 19-year-old Noriko moved to New York to study art, she fell in love with Ushio - abandoning her education to become the wife and assistant to an unruly, alcoholic husband. But the roles have now shifted. Now 80, Ushio struggles to establish his artistic legacy, while Noriko is at last being recognised for her own art - a series of drawings entitled "Cutie," depicting her challenging past with Ushio. This is a moving portrait of a couple wrestling with the eternal themes of sacrifice, disappointment and aging, against a background of lives dedicated to art. (From the US, in English & Japanese) (Documentary) (class tba)
Cutie And The Boxer was broadcast on SBS 2 at Thursday 18 September 2014, 13:00.