What
do a boxer and a ballerina have in common? They both understand the importance
of footwork. In this case, they also have the same patron. Both will pursue
their ambitions, even if it means deferring questions of love in Umetsugu Inoue’s
The Winner, which screens as part of
Japan’s Music Man, the Japan Society’s weekend retrospective of Inoue’s
musicals.
Eikichi
was a contender, but he could have been a champ had he not allowed himself to
get distracted by his love for Natsuko. He now manages her father’s Ginza
nightclub and tries to mold professional boxers on the side. The palooka who
just got knocked out by the rank amateur Shuntaro Fuma was supposed to be his
last fighter, but he signs up Fuma instead. Natsuko is not thrilled about it,
but she continues to patiently wait for their long-promised marriage. However, Eikichi
will have a harder time explaining why he impulsively decides to sponsor Mari
Shiraki’s ballet studies, after he was forced to fire her from the club’s floor
show.
The
truth is, Shiraki’s relationship with her “sensei” is strictly chaste, even
though she might have mixed feelings about that. Inevitably, she also meets the
surly Fuma, who falls head-over-heels. So yes, it gets really complicated, but
Eickichi sort of simplifies matters by insisting neither of his protégés can
act on their feelings until they have achieved their goals. Cue the training
montages.
Despite
the Ginza setting, it would be a stretch to call The Winner a musical without the ballet sequence directly inspired
by The Red Shoes. Obviously, there is
a strong Venn diagram overlap between fans of the Powell & Pressburger
ballet fable and boxing movies like Rocky,
because The Winner was a big hit
in 1957. Frankly, the tone is decidedly Runyonesque, as boxers and dancers
mingle and the smart set rubs shoulders with low life thugs.
Yûjirô
Ishihara turns on the punky charm as Fuma and develops some endearing chemistry
with Mie Kitahara’s Shiraki. Kitahara exudes waifish vulnerability and aptly looks
the part of a classically trained prima ballerina throughout the slightly
surreal ballet fantasia. Yoko Minamida also brings sophistication and attitude
as the chic Natsuko. Yet, it is Tatsuya Mihashi who holds it all together as driven,
world weary Eickichi, boosting everyone around him. In terms of tone, think of
Harrison Ford in the Sabrina remake,
but with more hardbitten cynicism.
The
screenwriting battery of Toru Kino, Toshio Masuda, and Isamu Onoda devise an
ending that is messier and more bittersweet than the standard big title fight
ending (although that is still definitely part of the mix). Of course, Inoue
marinates it all in post-war style. Highly recommended, The Winner screens today and tomorrow (12/15 & 12/16), as
part of the Japan Society’s Inoue musical series.
