Small, Slow But Steady
Synopsis
Set in a near-deserted, Covid Tokyo, this is a beautiful study of the small, slow but steady young woman Keiko who has been deaf since birth. She takes to boxing as a way to break out of her isolated world, but then has to face up to her loss of the desire to win and the closure of her gym, run by her major supporter Mr Sasaki. "It requires a personal search by the intensely quiet Keiko, helped by the silent bond shared between herself and Mr. Sasaki, to pull her forward. [The actors] Miura and Kishii are wonderful together. Their father-daughter dynamic adds an external heartwarming mood in a movie where the greatest drama often occurs internally" - Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com.
Critics
“Subdued, low-key and unassuming, this Japanese film about a young deaf woman who becomes a professional boxer firmly eschews the traditional sports movie tropes.”
“Anyone committed to the more contemplative, emotionally refined end of the current Japanese art cinema spectrum will find this against-the-grain study genuinely alluring.”
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