CYCLE CINEMA #11
“Gachi-Boshi”
Struggle and struggle, and keep on struggling.

If you can find something to immerse yourself in life, wouldn’t that life be a success? Of course, it would be even better if you could make a living out of that immersion (in other words, doing what you love). Furthermore, it would be fantastic to rise to the top in that world. However, the world is tough. Despite striving from childhood and becoming a professional, it’s rare to be able to thrive in that world.

“Gachi-Boshi” (2017) is a story with the former professional baseball player Hamajima (Kenichi Abe) as the protagonist. While he was a baseball player, he wasn’t a professional in heart. He smoked, drank, and was disillusioned. One day, he received a notice of being released from the team, plunging further into a dissolute lifestyle. He becomes immersed in pachinko and alcohol, and even crosses the line with his best friend’s wife. He’s the epitome of a loser.”

This path leads straight to rock bottom. In a final desperate attempt, he turned to keirin racing (a type of track cycling race). Entering the keirin school at the age of 39, he faced grueling days of training alongside young riders over 20 years his junior. Despite being a former professional baseball player, his endurance was lacking due to his indulgence in alcohol and cigarettes, leading to ridicule from instructors and fellow students. In the midst of this, Hamajima encounters Hisamatsu, a classmate from the same hometown. When Hamajima asks why he’s so committed, Hisamatsu replies, ‘It’s all I’ve got.’ Hisamatsu had his own reasons for needing to turn pro. Inspired by Hisamatsu’s spirit, Hamajima starts pedaling vigorously to reclaim his lost self, eventually managing to turn pro.

However, even after becoming a pro, Hamajima remained stagnant. People don’t change overnight. He was like a man who seemed to prove that a scoundrel remains a scoundrel forever. However, triggered by a major incident, Hamajima reaches a kind of enlightenment. He stops on the road, questions himself, accepts responsibility, realizes what he can do at that moment, and shouts, “I got it!” He acknowledges his own weakness. He resolves to challenge himself yet again. This scene is powerful. It reminds me of the scene in the movie ‘JOKER’ where he dances on the stairs, portraying the moment when Arthur transforms into Joker through a few seconds of dance. It’s a memorable scene, and it brought back memories of the moment when a scoundrel of a keirin rider became a professional keirin rider.

In the scenes of keirin training, the instructors keep telling the riders to “struggle, struggle.” When you stop struggling (pedaling), the bicycle loses speed and eventually falls. Perhaps being a pro is about the time spent struggling. When people stop struggling, their speed drops, and they withdraw from that world. This movie teaches us the importance of struggling; when you stop struggling to pedal, you lose speed and eventually fall. It emphasizes that the time we spend struggling is precious. When you finish watching it, you’ll feel an intense desire to pedal furiously, to struggle. “Gachi-Boshi” is that kind of movie.


🎬CYCLE CINEMA STORAGE🎬
#01 “The Bicycle Thief”
#02 “Project A”
#03 “Shoot for tomorrow!”(origin title “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”)
#04 “The Kid With a Bike (Le gamin au vélo)”
#05 “Izakaya Choji”
#06 “Cinema Paradiso”
#07 “Kids Return”
#08 “PERFECT DAYS”
#09 “Kramer vs. Kramer”
#10 “E.T.”
#11 “Gachi-Boshi”
#12 “Yesterday”
#13 “Wadjda”
#14 “The Zone of Interest”
#15 “Anselm”
#16 “Otoko wa Turai yo”


Profile

Text_Hideki Inoue
I am from Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. I work as a writer and editor. My hobbies include hot baths, skiing, and fishing. Although I have no personal connection, I am independently conducting research on Shiga Prefecture. I prefer an active fishing style called “RUN & GUN,” which involves moving around actively instead of staying in one place. Purchasing a car to transport bicycles for this style of cycling seems like putting the cart before the horse.

Illusutration_Michiharu Saotome

CULTURE
CYCLE CINEMA #12
“Yesterday”

If you talk about ‘what ifs,’ you’ll be disliked.That makes sense.It’s no fun to drink with someone who only talks about things like ‘If I had done that at that time’ or ‘If I had studied harder.’ However, ‘hypothetical stories’ stimulate the imagination. It’s the type of story that goes, ‘What if there was no such thing as XX in this world?’ What if there were no Edison in this world?What if there were no Osamu Tezuka in this world?What if there were no Steve Jobs in this world? What if? Without great figures, the world would turn upside down. Would someone else have invented the light bulb instead of Edison? Woul […]

#Cinema #Colunm
CULTURE
CYCLE CINEMA #14
“The Zone of Interest”
A Bicycle Bridging Hell and Heaven

The Zone of Interest” (2024), a film centered on Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp (hereafter referred to as Auschwitz), presents a series of scenes that are strikingly beautiful and luminous. As is widely known, Auschwitz, operated under the Nazi regime, remains infamous as “one of humanity’s greatest atrocities” and “the site of the worst crime in human history.” The facility was constructed in the outskirts of Oświęcim, in what is now southern Poland, during the German occupation. Under the command of Rudolf Höss, countless Jews were systematically murdered between 1940 and 1945. The sheer scale of the atrocities has made it impossible to determine an exa […]

#Colunm #Cinema
CULTURE
CYCLE CINEMA #02
“Project A”
Immerse in an exhilarating bike chase.

In the early 1990s, China had a completely different landscape compared to today. During the morning and evening rush hours, one could witness the famous “bicycle rush hour” that was synonymous with China at the time. Many people used bicycles for commuting, creating a breathtaking sight of thousands of people riding the same roads. Moreover, since most bicycles were of the same model and color, there was a sense of harmony. Brands like “Fenghuang” and “Yongjiu” from Shanghai were quite popular. These bicycles were tough and sturdy, serving as the essential means of transportation to support people’s daily lives.

#Column #Cinema