Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2013

80-year-old Ushio Shinohara, a New York-based Japanese starving artist who paints with boxing gloves, could accurately be described as “fierce.” He’s an arrogant but lovable jerk. His wife Noriko, 20 years his junior, is much quieter but no less fierce. She has served as his unpaid assistant for four decades, but has now chosen to pursue her own, semi-autobiographical (and far more original) art. They bicker constantly, but never without tenderness, love and hope. Documentarian Zachary Heinzerling has created a powerful yet modest, moving portrait of universal marriage that’s both heartfelt and profound. (82 min)