Boxballet is a 2021 animated short film (15 minutes) from Russia, directed by Anton Dyakov.
The two protagonists are a young ballet dancer, Olya, and a craggy, scarred boxer, Evgeny. Both of them are having some disturbances in their life. The boxer's career isn't going very well; one scene shows him getting knocked out in a fight. The ballet dancer has a gross scumbag of a producer, who is basically demanding that she have sex with him if she wants to get parts.
The boxer and the ballet dancer live near each other, and he notices her on the tram. They meet for real one day when he rescues her cat from a tree. Will they fall in love and stay together amidst the pressures of their professions?
Tropes:
- Beast and Beauty: A big, ugly, battle-scarred boxer falls in love with a delicate ballerina.
- Casting Couch: The producer offers Olya the lead in Giselle, but the offer is clearly contingent on sex with him. It is heavily implied the following morning as we see her half-naked on her bed that she obliged. Luckily, she later stands up for herself and abandons the role, rushing to be there for Evgeny's boxing match.
- Cat Up a Tree: Evgeny goes up a tree to rescue Olya's cat. He then comes down from the tree with the cat on his face. Cue Olya, in her apartment, applying a lot of bandages to all the cuts the cat made on Evgeny's face.
- Disturbed Doves: The first shot of the film shows pigeons pecking on some steps, only to be scattered as Olya races out of the door, evidently late for work.
- Fan Disservice: The first shot of the boxer is in fact a closeup of his naked butt. He then puts on some underwear.
- Go Out with a Smile: Although Evgeny doesn't die, he comes fairly close as his opponent continues to beat him to a pulp. Despite this, he smiles happily when he knows Olya is there with him.
- Gratuitous English: The last scene shows the Evgeny and Olya in a dacha together, then shows them watching a news program that reveals the story is set in 1991 right before the fall of the Soviet Union. The coda then has title cards saying, in English, "they had their whole life ahead of them..." and "a life full of surprises...."
- Gray Rain of Depression: Evgeny shows up at Olya's apartment building on a rainy night, bouquet of flowers in hand, only to see her get in the producer's car. He drops his bouquet, and the next shot shows a flower floating on the rainwater down a storm drain.
- Hands-On Approach: The ballet producer is introduced and established as a scumbag, in a scene where he's watching all the ballerinas practice. He comes up behind Olya, grabs her leg which she's sticking out in a held pose—and then slides his hand up her leg.
- Handwraps of Awesome: In one scene Evgeny's coach tries to cheat by wrapping up some steel nuts in his handwraps. The boxer refuses to do this—and goes on to lose.
- Heel Realization: The other boxer has already knocked out Evgeny, but for some reason is continuing to pound on his head while our protagonist lies bleeding on the ground. The second boxer continues punching Evgeny's head, until he catches sight of Olya, in the seats, weeping. He gets a shocked look on his face and instantly stops.
- The Ken Burns Effect: The camera pans across several paintings, which are shown as actual pictures rather than animation. The boxer and ballerina have gone on a date to an art museum.
- Male Gaze:
- Evgeny quite obviously looks at Olya's long legs when they're both on the tram.
- Later, after they've met properly and she's invited him to her apartment, she catches him looking at her butt as she's leaning over looking at the stuff for tea. He awkwardly looks up at the ceiling.
- Meet Cute: Evgeny checks out Olya's legs when they are both on the tram, but they meet properly when he rescues her Cat Up a Tree.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: In the second fight Evgeny's opponent knocks him out, then continues to pound on his head as the he lies flat on the mat.
- Once More, with Clarity: The short film begins with the ballerina running to get somewhere, leaping over cars and getting on a train, before the shot cuts. This is later revealed towards the end to be Olya abandoning her role (and abuse from the director), running to make it for Evgeny's boxing match, whom she previously left the other night.
- P.O.V. Cam: One scene is shot from Evgeny's POV as he fights in the ring. Punches are thrown until the other boxer's fist comes zooming into the camera and the cartoon cuts to black, indicating that Evgeny has been knocked out.
- Silence Is Golden: The cartoon is almost completely dialogue-free. One scene shows Evgeny watching a TV news report of a murder, but the dialogue over the TV is irrelevant to the plot. The only important dialogue is a single word, spoken afte Evgeny rejects a suggestion by his coach to cheat by wrapping up some metal nuts over his knuckles. The coach leaves the locker room and says "Dumbass."
- Time-Passes Montage: A montage shows Evgeny and Olya spending time together. They go to an art museum, they go roller skating, and they're walking in the park when a purse snatcher steals Olya's purse. Evgeny goes chasing after him, and hours later, after the ballerina has gone home and to bed, the boxer shows up at her door with the purse.
- Your Makeup Is Running: Happens to Olya when she sees Evgeny being beaten.
