How can a loser be stronger than a winner? Blue (2021) shows us how.
Story:This film really asks the question, what makes us strong? It shows that winning isn't all that matters, nor should it be used as a scale to measure how strong a person is. Here we have Kazuki who wins all the time and swears he will retire from boxing if he loses. On the other hand, we have Urita who loses all the time and keeps a smile on his face.
The dynamic between Kazuki and Urita is very subtle but very brilliant. Urita is constantly trying to help his friend win matches, giving him helpful tips, and is always in his corner. Yet Kazuki doesn't do the same. In fact, there was one scene where Kazuki witheld information about one of Urita's upcomming opponents that would have helped him greatly. Why did he do this? Humans are complicated. For me, I think that Kazuki was selfish and wanted Urita to remain a loser. He didn't want Urita to stop supporting him and if he started to win matches, this might happen as Urita would then focus more on his own success. It could also be the case that Kazuki was jealous of Urita because of his amazing attitude. Urita is always seen as smiling and optimistic, whereas Kazuki is always seen as irritable and moody. This might have made Kazuki jealous for no good reason.
It is very important to note that this film is not a typical boxing movie, where the underdog trains as hard as he can and ends up winning matches. The point this film is trying to make isn't that winning equals success, but rather that attitude is more important. Urita did everything he could to win, he had amazing physique and techniques that even helped his other teammates win their own matches. Yet, Urita still couldn't win a match of his own. Does this mean he was weak? Hell no! He was stronger than anyone else in the movie because no one else could have handled so many failures with the same grace that he did.
Cast:
While everyone here gave a great performance, I was very notably impressed with Emoto Tokio's acting. I'm used to seeing him play the awkward weak guy. He obviously did a lot of traning for this to build his cardio and physique. His character was a wonderful source of comedic relief at times.
Final Thoughts:
I had zero hopes going into this movie. In fact, I was intending to just fan-girl over Higashide Masahiro and skip through most of it. But the intricate, realistic, and delicate approach to Urita's plight as a passionate boxer with no ability to win matches really caught my attention and held it for the duration of the film. It is a well-made work that any boxing fan will enjoy.
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