Film follows Keiko, deaf since birth, making her way in the ring when Covid-19 lockdown arrives in Japan and she must deal with confidence issues
The title is presumably meant to refer to the film’s fine-boned heroine Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii), a scrappy boxer who has just turned professional, but it just as aptly describes the film itself: a delicate, atmospheric study that’s quite unlike most other fight movies. Based on a memoir by boxer Keiko Ogasawara, this very internal story unfolds during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a locked-down Japan adding a further layer of isolation to Keiko’s life. Thanks to Kishii’s luminous performance, Keiko comes across as a very self-sufficient but lonely figure, completely deaf since birth, who finds in fighting some kind of release and sensory thrill, even though her lack of hearing creates very specific challenges in the ring...
The title is presumably meant to refer to the film’s fine-boned heroine Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii), a scrappy boxer who has just turned professional, but it just as aptly describes the film itself: a delicate, atmospheric study that’s quite unlike most other fight movies. Based on a memoir by boxer Keiko Ogasawara, this very internal story unfolds during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a locked-down Japan adding a further layer of isolation to Keiko’s life. Thanks to Kishii’s luminous performance, Keiko comes across as a very self-sufficient but lonely figure, completely deaf since birth, who finds in fighting some kind of release and sensory thrill, even though her lack of hearing creates very specific challenges in the ring...
- 6/27/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Inspired by the autobiographical book “Makenaide!” by Keiko Ogasawara, the first hearing-impaired professional woman boxer, Small, Slow But Steady is a moving character study powered by an unforgettable performance from rising star Yukino Kishii.
Keiko is a young pro boxer with a hearing impairment. Although boxing is a real challenge for her, the club she belongs to is like a second home. After surprising everyone by winning her first two professional fights, she soon learns that the club chairman, the only person who had believed in her as a boxer, is plagued by health issues and the gym is about to shut its doors for good. Confused about what the future holds, Keiko prepares for her third professional bout but perhaps the biggest challenge she faces is trying to understand the true nature of her will to fight.
Small, Slow But Steady is a one-of-a-kind sports film with a raw...
Keiko is a young pro boxer with a hearing impairment. Although boxing is a real challenge for her, the club she belongs to is like a second home. After surprising everyone by winning her first two professional fights, she soon learns that the club chairman, the only person who had believed in her as a boxer, is plagued by health issues and the gym is about to shut its doors for good. Confused about what the future holds, Keiko prepares for her third professional bout but perhaps the biggest challenge she faces is trying to understand the true nature of her will to fight.
Small, Slow But Steady is a one-of-a-kind sports film with a raw...
- 5/22/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japan Academy Film Prize Association held the 46th edition of its awards ceremony on March 10, 2023. The nominees are selected by industry professionals from the pool of film releases between January 1 and December 31, 2022 which must have screened in Tokyo cinemas. Award categories are modelled after Hollywood's Academy Awards®.
Following its success at the recent Blue Ribbon Awards, and leading with 13 nominations in 12 categories, Kei Ishikawa's “A Man” walks away with 8 Japan Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. The full list of winners is described below.
Picture of the Year
A Man
Shin Ultraman
Phases of the Moon
Anime Supremacy!
Wandering
Team from A Man Animation of the Year
Inu-Oh
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Suzume
One Piece Film Red
The First Slam Dunk
Director of the Year
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Takashi Koizumi – The Pass: Last...
Following its success at the recent Blue Ribbon Awards, and leading with 13 nominations in 12 categories, Kei Ishikawa's “A Man” walks away with 8 Japan Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. The full list of winners is described below.
Picture of the Year
A Man
Shin Ultraman
Phases of the Moon
Anime Supremacy!
Wandering
Team from A Man Animation of the Year
Inu-Oh
Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Suzume
One Piece Film Red
The First Slam Dunk
Director of the Year
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Takashi Koizumi – The Pass: Last...
- 3/15/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
One of the prestigious national cinema awards in Japan presented by the Association of Tokyo Film Journalists, the 65th edition of the Blue Ribbon Awards announced its winners on February 24, 2023. The nominees are selected from movies released in 2022 within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. Leading with 6 nominations, A Man by Kei Ishikawa, wins Best Film while Plan 75 by Chie Hayakawa picks up Best Director and Best Actress for Chieko Baisho. The full list of winners is described below.
Best Film
A Man
Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands
Small, Slow But Steady
Missing
Silent Parade
Dr Coto’s Clinic
Plan 75
Motherhood
Fragments of the Last Will
Wandering
A Man Best Director
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Shinzo Katayama – Missing
Takahisa Zeze – Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will
Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75
Ryuichi Hiroki – 2 Women, Motherhood; Phases of the Moon
Best Actor
Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...
Best Film
A Man
Kingdom 2: To Distant Lands
Small, Slow But Steady
Missing
Silent Parade
Dr Coto’s Clinic
Plan 75
Motherhood
Fragments of the Last Will
Wandering
A Man Best Director
Kei Ishikawa – A Man
Shinzo Katayama – Missing
Takahisa Zeze – Tombi: Father and Son; Fragments of the Last Will
Chie Hayakawa – Plan 75
Ryuichi Hiroki – 2 Women, Motherhood; Phases of the Moon
Best Actor
Sadao Abe – Lesson in Murder; I am...
- 2/28/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Often, when embarking on the recent Variety tradition that is this feature — designed to highlight some of the year’s best yet least-Oscar-likely performances — one particular turn will emerge as the poster child. A performance that, for many reasons, really ought to have a shot at Oscar but, being in a language other than English, has little chance. This year, that slot goes to Vicky Krieps who, in Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage,” does not so much play Empress Elisabeth of Austria (a role previously defined by Romy Schneider in the saccharine “Sissi” trilogy) as entirely reimagine and reclaim her.
Rather like with Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” Krieps has the kind of stateside profile that will help “Corsage” stay in the conversation for the best international feature film Oscar shortlist. But the odds of her getting an individual best actress nod remain far slimmer — a shame, given...
Rather like with Mads Mikkelsen in Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” Krieps has the kind of stateside profile that will help “Corsage” stay in the conversation for the best international feature film Oscar shortlist. But the odds of her getting an individual best actress nod remain far slimmer — a shame, given...
- 12/16/2022
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The year is 2020, but according to the autobiographical book it is based on, the ‘monogatari’ of Sho Miyake’s truly impressive drama “Small, Slow but Steady” should be set in the 2010’s. Looking at it, this is not the only trick the audience falls for – the film’s beginning fools you into believing that you are watching a real deal, a documentary about the female boxer Keiko Ogasawara (Yukino Kishii) who entered history as the first professional with dissability in this sport. This is not only due to the opening cards informing the audience about the main protagonist’s background and her inborn sensorineural hearing loss which resulted in no hearing in either ear, but equally as much by observing her during a long, intense training in the gym. We are additionally told that she became a licenced professional boxer in 2019 with an amazing victory in her first fight.
- 11/4/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
What drops of cinema are still to be wrung from boxing? The new Japanese drama Small, Slow But Steady is about as calm and modest as its title suggests, but there are surprising swings within those margins. Aesthetically it takes some cues from certain films of the 1960s, notably those of the late Yasujirō Ozu, but its drama could hardly be more contemporary. Gleamed, if not quite ripped, from the headlines, it partially tells the true story of Keiko Ogasawara, a female boxer who went pro in 2009, becoming the first hearing-impaired person in Japan to ever do so, then won her first fight with a shock first round knockout. Can’t say I’ve seen that one before.
Loosely adapting Ogasawara’s 2011 autobiography Makenaide, director Shô Miyake moves this unlikely story to the present day and creates not only one of the best low-key sports films of recent years, but...
Loosely adapting Ogasawara’s 2011 autobiography Makenaide, director Shô Miyake moves this unlikely story to the present day and creates not only one of the best low-key sports films of recent years, but...
- 7/21/2022
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The year is 2020, but according to the autobiographical book it is based on, the ‘monogatari’ of Sho Miyake’s truly impressive drama “Small, Slow but Steady” should be set in the 2010’s. Looking at it, this is not the only trick the audience falls for – the film’s beginning fools you into believing that you are watching a real deal, a documentary about the female boxer Keiko Ogasawara (Yukino Kishii) who entered history as the first professional with dissability in this sport. This is not only due to the opening cards informing the audience about the main protagonist’s background and her inborn sensorineural hearing loss which resulted in no hearing in either ear, but equally as much by observing her during a long, intense training in the gym. We are additionally told that she became a licenced professional boxer in 2019 with an amazing victory in her first fight. Add...
- 2/26/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Back in 2019 when life was still normal, Sho Miyake came to Berlin with his love drama “And Your Bird Can Sing” that screened in the Panorama section to critical acclaim. The film was praised for many things including its dreamy photography but then again – Hidetoshi Shinomiya was behind it, the same cinematographer who gave the extra touch to Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-nominated drama “Drive My Car”.
Although primarily known for his live-action movies, Sho Miyake was always interested in documentary filmmaking.There was “Cockpit” (2015), a film about rapper Omsb creating a new song with his friends followed by the documentary ”Experience in Material No. 58 / A Return Of Bruno Taut 2016” about the architect Ryoji Suzuki and his body of work, which they co-directed together. The love for documentaries is very visible in his latest title “Small, Slow but Steady”, a film based on the life of the former boxing champion Keiko Ogasawara who was born deaf,...
Although primarily known for his live-action movies, Sho Miyake was always interested in documentary filmmaking.There was “Cockpit” (2015), a film about rapper Omsb creating a new song with his friends followed by the documentary ”Experience in Material No. 58 / A Return Of Bruno Taut 2016” about the architect Ryoji Suzuki and his body of work, which they co-directed together. The love for documentaries is very visible in his latest title “Small, Slow but Steady”, a film based on the life of the former boxing champion Keiko Ogasawara who was born deaf,...
- 2/25/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Not since Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 silent “The Ring” has there been a boxing film quite so quiet as “Small, Slow But Steady,” a gentle but hard-edged study of a flyweight female pugilist in suburban Tokyo. More concerned with the wear and tear of everyday life than pummeling sound and fury, director Shô Miyake’s measured, unsentimental adaptation of a memoir by Keiko Ogasawara — who turned professional despite the difficulties of lifelong deafness — turns out to be somewhat aptly described by its own title, though none of those adjectives quite conveys its rare and delicate grace. A highlight of the Encounters program at this year’s Berlinale, this unassuming gem should turn the heads of specialist distributors and further festival programmers, despite its general avoidance of crowd-courting tactics.
In adapting Ogasawara’s book “Makenaide!” — which translates, with an imperative urgency the film doesn’t share, as “Do Not Lose!” — Miyake and...
In adapting Ogasawara’s book “Makenaide!” — which translates, with an imperative urgency the film doesn’t share, as “Do Not Lose!” — Miyake and...
- 2/24/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Shô Miyake’s Small, Slow But Steady is a rare breed of a sports film. Composed, meditative and, ultimately, sensitive, the usual aesthetics of boxing as spectacular and drenched in adrenaline are abandoned in favour of a silent study of ritualistic gestures, more reminiscent of Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym (2010) than of bombastic pop-culture achievements like Rocky. Miyake is not concerned with that greater-than-life, climatic feeling of overcoming your opponent, but with the sporadic nature of finding the will to fight – in sport, and in life.
Based on Keiko Ogasawara’s autobiographical Makenaide! (i.e. Don’t lose/Don’t give up), the film follows recently turned pro-fighter Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii) as she trains in a small, run-down, once prestigious gym on one secluded, yet scenic street in Tokyo. Keiko was born Deaf, and as her coach (veteran actor Tomokazu Miura) explains at one point to a curious journalist,...
Based on Keiko Ogasawara’s autobiographical Makenaide! (i.e. Don’t lose/Don’t give up), the film follows recently turned pro-fighter Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii) as she trains in a small, run-down, once prestigious gym on one secluded, yet scenic street in Tokyo. Keiko was born Deaf, and as her coach (veteran actor Tomokazu Miura) explains at one point to a curious journalist,...
- 2/21/2022
- by Dora Leu
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The boxing dreams drama is fifth fiction feature by Japanese director Shô Miyake who was last in Berlin in 2019.
Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded Japanese director Shô Miyake’s drama Small Slow But Steady ahead of its premiere in the Encounters section of the Berlinale.
Yukino Kishii stars as a hearing-impaired young woman with dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The Covid-19 pandemic combined with the threatened closure of her boxing club and the illness of its ageing president (played by Tomokazu Miura), who has been her biggest supporter, push her to the limit.
Miyake, whose career spans fiction,...
Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded Japanese director Shô Miyake’s drama Small Slow But Steady ahead of its premiere in the Encounters section of the Berlinale.
Yukino Kishii stars as a hearing-impaired young woman with dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The Covid-19 pandemic combined with the threatened closure of her boxing club and the illness of its ageing president (played by Tomokazu Miura), who has been her biggest supporter, push her to the limit.
Miyake, whose career spans fiction,...
- 1/19/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Two of most renowned characteristics of the Japanese people are their love for manga/anime and their inherent persistence and methodic way of doing things that lets them go to “places” others would not even dream of going. In case you have not heard, these two aspects are now coming together in the construction of a real life Gundam robot, but this is not the only example. The Maeda Corporation Fantasy Marketing Department is a team of five engineers from the aforementioned civil engineering company, whose members, back in 2004, released an essay online outlining what it would take to build Mazinger Z’s iconic hangar—which includes an elevator rising up through a swimming pool that splits in half. Now, more than 15 years later, their effort has been turned into a movie, that also features the creator of the original manga, Go Nagai, in a cameo.
“Project Dreams: How to...
“Project Dreams: How to...
- 8/30/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
In its now 43rd edition the Nippon Academy-shō Association recognized Asian productions with the Japan Academy Film Prize, an award commonly referred to as the Asian equivalent to the Oscars. The award show, which took place at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan presented some of the best productions from the Asian movie industry with productions such as Shinsuke Saito’s “Kingdom” receiving four nominations and Hideki Takeuchi’s “Fly me to Saitama” topping the list with 12 nominations.
Here is the list of the winners of last night’s award ceremony:
Picture of the Year: “The Journalist” by Roh Deok
Director of the Year: Hideki Takeuchi (“Fly me to Saitama”)
Animation of the Year: “Weathering with You” by Makoto Shinkai
Screenplay of the Year: Yuichi Tokunaga (“Fly me to Saitama”)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Tori Matsuzaka (“The Journalist”)
Outstanding Performance by an...
Here is the list of the winners of last night’s award ceremony:
Picture of the Year: “The Journalist” by Roh Deok
Director of the Year: Hideki Takeuchi (“Fly me to Saitama”)
Animation of the Year: “Weathering with You” by Makoto Shinkai
Screenplay of the Year: Yuichi Tokunaga (“Fly me to Saitama”)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Tori Matsuzaka (“The Journalist”)
Outstanding Performance by an...
- 3/7/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
It is always a pleasure to watch films that portray unremarkable love stories with realism and still manage to be entertaining. Rikiya Imaizumi does just that with “Just Only Love”, a film based on the novel “Ai Ga Nanda”, by Mitsuyo Kakuta.
Just Only Love screened at Camera Japan
Teruko is an office worker who is involved in a relationship that could only be described as one-sided. You see, she has been in love with Mamoru ever since they met at a friend’s wedding, to the point that the phone calls she receives from him to meet are the only thing that matters in her life, including her friends and work. Eventually, the two of them spend a night together, and Teruko starts to believe that they will become a couple, finally. However, Mamoru does not share her feelings, as it is obvious that he spends time with her...
Just Only Love screened at Camera Japan
Teruko is an office worker who is involved in a relationship that could only be described as one-sided. You see, she has been in love with Mamoru ever since they met at a friend’s wedding, to the point that the phone calls she receives from him to meet are the only thing that matters in her life, including her friends and work. Eventually, the two of them spend a night together, and Teruko starts to believe that they will become a couple, finally. However, Mamoru does not share her feelings, as it is obvious that he spends time with her...
- 10/5/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Yutaro Nakamura’s feature debut is another splendid sample of Japanese indie, that uses the familiar theme of the “love triangle,” to present a number of social issues among Japanese youths.
The people compiling the triangle are three individuals who have been friends since high school. Yat was a child actor who has turned away from his past and is now trying to become a rock star, as he is the lead singer in a band. Takuma is a photographer who shoots Yat frequently. Yumika is Takuma’s ex-girlfriend, a timid girl who still lives with her parents. The three of them seem to get along as friends, despite their past.
“Grab the Sun” screened at Japan Filmfest Hamburg
However, things are not as smooth as they initial seem. Takuma also deals drugs on the side, and has a couple of friends they all smoke drugs together, one of which...
The people compiling the triangle are three individuals who have been friends since high school. Yat was a child actor who has turned away from his past and is now trying to become a rock star, as he is the lead singer in a band. Takuma is a photographer who shoots Yat frequently. Yumika is Takuma’s ex-girlfriend, a timid girl who still lives with her parents. The three of them seem to get along as friends, despite their past.
“Grab the Sun” screened at Japan Filmfest Hamburg
However, things are not as smooth as they initial seem. Takuma also deals drugs on the side, and has a couple of friends they all smoke drugs together, one of which...
- 5/13/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The family drama has always been one of the flagships of Japanese cinema, with local filmmakers having perfected a style that was initiated in the 50’s and was established in its current form through the films of Hirokazu Koreeda. “Goodbye, Grandpa” follows these lines, closely.
Goodbye, Grandpa screened at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian cinema, running from January 7 to February 14.
The story uses the regular “trick” of the death that brings the family together. This time the deceased is the grandfather, Isao, whose funeral brings together all members of the household of Harunos to the rural place Isao’s children grew up. Akio is the older brother, whose wife, Jun, has divorced him, and has two children he seems to know very little about; Yohei, the older son who has some psychological problems rarely leaving his house and Chiharu, a high-school student who seems really cool and mature for her age.
Goodbye, Grandpa screened at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian cinema, running from January 7 to February 14.
The story uses the regular “trick” of the death that brings the family together. This time the deceased is the grandfather, Isao, whose funeral brings together all members of the household of Harunos to the rural place Isao’s children grew up. Akio is the older brother, whose wife, Jun, has divorced him, and has two children he seems to know very little about; Yohei, the older son who has some psychological problems rarely leaving his house and Chiharu, a high-school student who seems really cool and mature for her age.
- 1/28/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Two Japanese films have been selected for the main competition at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) next month.
Junji Sakamoto's Another World is the story of three old friends facing life as they head toward their forties.
Of the film, competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe said it "humanely depicts the life-affirming drama of a married couple."
Meanwhile, Rikiya Imaizumi's Just Only Love is a tale of one-sided devotion based on a novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta.
"Imaizumi's filmmaking has been enriched with the new perspective of a female author. Yukino Kishii, who is full of coquettish ...
Junji Sakamoto's Another World is the story of three old friends facing life as they head toward their forties.
Of the film, competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe said it "humanely depicts the life-affirming drama of a married couple."
Meanwhile, Rikiya Imaizumi's Just Only Love is a tale of one-sided devotion based on a novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta.
"Imaizumi's filmmaking has been enriched with the new perspective of a female author. Yukino Kishii, who is full of coquettish ...
- 9/21/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Two Japanese films have been selected for the main competition at the 31st Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff) next month.
Junji Sakamoto's Another World is the story of three old friends facing life as they head toward their forties.
Of the film, competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe said it "humanely depicts the life-affirming drama of a married couple."
Meanwhile, Rikiya Imaizumi's Just Only Love is a tale of one-sided devotion based on a novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta.
"Imaizumi's filmmaking has been enriched with the new perspective of a female author. Yukino Kishii, who is full of coquettish ...
Junji Sakamoto's Another World is the story of three old friends facing life as they head toward their forties.
Of the film, competition programming director Yoshi Yatabe said it "humanely depicts the life-affirming drama of a married couple."
Meanwhile, Rikiya Imaizumi's Just Only Love is a tale of one-sided devotion based on a novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta.
"Imaizumi's filmmaking has been enriched with the new perspective of a female author. Yukino Kishii, who is full of coquettish ...
- 9/21/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The family drama has always been one of the flagships of Japanese cinema, with local filmmakers having perfected a style that was initiated in the 50’s and was established in its current form through the films of Hirokazu Koreeda. “Goodbye, Grandpa” follows these lines, closely.
Goodbye Grandpa is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival
The story uses the regular “trick” of the death that brings the family together. This time the deceased is the grandfather, Isao, whose funeral brings together all members of the household of Harunos to the rural place Isao’s children grew up. Akio is the older brother, whose wife, Jun, has divorced him, and has two children he seems to know very little about; Yohei, the older son who has some psychological problems rarely leaving his house and Chiharu, a high-school student who seems really cool and mature for her age. The younger brother is Seiji,...
Goodbye Grandpa is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival
The story uses the regular “trick” of the death that brings the family together. This time the deceased is the grandfather, Isao, whose funeral brings together all members of the household of Harunos to the rural place Isao’s children grew up. Akio is the older brother, whose wife, Jun, has divorced him, and has two children he seems to know very little about; Yohei, the older son who has some psychological problems rarely leaving his house and Chiharu, a high-school student who seems really cool and mature for her age. The younger brother is Seiji,...
- 6/25/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
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