Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer (2013) is a resonant all-access portrait of two New York artists, Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, at work and in their marriage. Their 21-year age difference and their seemingly incompatible temperaments make for dramatic observational footage. The drama deepens with skillful editing of archival videos from their their younger days (Noriko, middle still) and animations from Noriko's autobiographical drawings (bottom still). Heinzerling boldly creates an unequal representation of the two protagonists: Ushio comes across as a self-centered bully, verifying the cartoon renderings of "Cutie" (Noriko) and "Bullie" (Ushio).
