Boxer, The (1977) (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Shūji TerayamaRelease Date(s)
1977 (July 20, 2026)Studio(s)
Toei Company (Radiance Films)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: B
Review
Japanese artistic institution Shūji Terayama’s films are usually tone poems—abstract, poetic, full of energy and art. But with The Boxer, Terayama took a somewhat conventional approach—with an oeuvre of work centered on the abstract, it is his only time as a filmmaker doing so and ended up giving the world this little seen gem of a film, which hopefully will get more eyeballs because of this Radiance release.
However, saying The Boxer is conventional in any way is a bit of an overstatement. Inspired by the success of Rocky in Japan, Terayama was the perfect artist to bring any iteration of a boxing film to Japan. His fascination with boxing as a snapshot of human suffering, artistic convention and commentary of modern life runs through many of his works. And just because the studio and the artist were inspired by Rocky doesn’t make this a Japanese Rocky in the least.
Hayato (Bunta Sugawara) is a former boxing champion with an air of mystery around him. He spends his days posting boxing bills (pasting promo posters around town in other words) and his nights with his dog in a rundown boardinghouse. Henma (Kentarô Shimizu) is a kid with a limp who “accidentally” kills a coworker with metal scrap at a junkyard—a coworker who has stolen away his one great love and a coworker who coincidentally is the younger brother of Hayato. Hayato confronts Henma at the wake but before he can confront Henma and do any physical damage he’s warned away by supportive townsfolk who like Henma. Henma is an aspiring boxer and loses his first amateur match and goes to Hayato to both apologize for killing his brother and formally ask him to be his boxing coach so he can become a champion like Hayato. After some hesitations, Hayato accepts and off goes the movie where we’ll also get backstory on Hayato through his relationship with his ex-wife and teenage daughter as well as comic relief in the form of the bar patrons at Henma’s drinking hole. There’s a lot of emotion packed into this film, a lot of poetry and beauty as well. This won’t become anyone’s favorite film, but it’s a really great small slow film and I’m super excited I finally got to see it and am happy to recommend it to anyone who considers themselves a movie fan.
The Boxer looks great on Blu-ray. Terayama did some full photography tricks in this—really great black and white photography and color work that I truly don’t understand how he did it, but sucked me in. There’s a sequence using pink light that is filed away in my mind as a future reference. Presented in 1080p with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, detail is really nice and the overall transfer feels like naturally filmic. Sound is a solid LPCM Mono track in the Japanese. There’s a lot of ambiance present and the score by legendary composer J.A. Seazer is nicely supported. Thankfully English subtitles are present. Extras are a newly recorded interview with J.A. Seazer with English subs about his relationship with Terayama and a video essay by Tom Mes entitled The Year Toei Failed that goes into exactly that and well worth the watch. Packaging includes reversible artwork, an essay by Maria Roberta Novelli and the standard Radiance “Obi strip”.
- Todd Doogan