Shall We Dance? (1996)
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Movie Reviews of Shall We Dance? (1996)
Movie Review: Learn to let go...
Summary: 5 Stars
Mister Sugiyama has a problem. Everything he strived for in the business world has turned up empty. His life drags on with an almost morbid drudgery. He even "sold his soul" to the company to buy the house that he lives in with his wife and daughter (only fairly wealthy people can even think of affording houses in urban Japan). But something still seems missing regardless of his great material success. Then one day he sees the stunningly beautiful Mai Kishikawa from his train. She stares longingly at some point in the distance from a window. Sugiyama's life changes at that moment. Lured by Kishikawa's beauty, he joins the dance school where she teaches. He then enters, for Japanese culture, the forbidden world of dancing. Though he takes a huge risk by doing so, the experience energizes him. But his wife becomes suspicious and hires a private detective to find out where her husband goes at night.
So begins the story of "Shall we ダンス?"; a gorgeous and moving film about opening minds and lives to new possibilities. By the end of the movie most of the main characters have experienced life transformations that expand their horizons irreversibly. Their previous myopic perspectives explode into new visions of how to live meaningfully. And none of these changes take place in isolation. All of the characters learn from each other. The snobbish Mai learns to open up by observing Sugiyama's struggles with dancing. Likewise, Sugiyama gains a new appreciation of his family life through his successes and failures with the dance school. And the hilarious Mr. Aoki sheds his masks and finally finds his true self. Even the private detective hired by Sugiyama's wife starts turning up at dance halls and competitions. Basically, everyone learns not to take life so seriously. The director seems to be asking his Japanese audience to overcome certain shameful aspects of their culture and start enjoying themselves. And, most of all, that one can redeem oneself and grow even after suffering great shame and embarrassment.
The movie is liberating in more than a thematic sense. Beautiful shots of dance halls and Japanese city streets abound. The camera dances with the dancers in many scenes. A lot of thought went into the cinematography and it shows. The film also has a deliberately meditative pacing. No intense action here. This encourages interactive reflection and introspection rather than passive acquiescence. It engages the viewer who decides to engage. And though the focus of the film involves competition, the film ends up not emphasizing the usual "win win" aspect of tournaments. This isn't a typical Hollywood movie about rising to the toppermost of the poppermost. It contains complex multi dimensional characters who have real flaws. It's inspiring, funny, tragic, cute, intense, and beautiful all at once.
"Shall we ダンス?" presents a great example of mature Japanese cinema. Anyone who thinks that Japanese films consist merely of flame-throwing robots and underwear obsession will find a huge surprise here. The movie targets adults directly and it deals with its subject matter intelligently and scrupulously. Anyone interested in Japanese culture or just in great cinema should see it.
Movie Review: Heartwarming movie that makes you want to dance!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite foreign films of all time! It deals with a middle-age businessman Mr. Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) who leads a workaholic and dull life. One day as he rides the subway back home, his eye is fixed on a lovely dancer Mai (Tamiyo Kusakari). This leads him to take up ballroom dancing just to meet her -- there he meets up with other interesting characters who take up dancing. Soon Mr. Sugiyama finds great fulfillment and friendship as he participates in the ballroom dancing competition along with his fellow dancers. Not only that, but Mr. Sugiyama finds that his personal and family life, the lives of the other dancers, his instructors and all concerned are transformed for the better as a result. (I don't want to give away anymore! You have to watch it for yourself.)
Even though I'm definitely not a dancer, this movie made me want to dance. The viewer can fully identify with Mr. Sugiyama, who feels as though he has 2 left feet. (Also, ballroom dancing may not be a manly activity to get involved in.) The actor who steals the show in this movie is the one who plays Mr. Aoki (Naoto Takenaka) -- a ostracized colleague of Mr. Sugiyama who tries to get girls to dance with him through pretending to be the great Latin dancer Donnie Burns. Aoki's exaggerated facial expressions and body movements are hilarious! Tamiyo Kusakari does a great job of playing the lovely dancer Mai whose life is also transformed as she instructs these men and turns them from clumsy beginners to accomplished dancers.
I loved this story because it deals with the theme of redemption and transformation. It also talks about the interdependency of our lives upon one another and how we can effect positive change upon each other. It talks about the importance of trusting one another and reconciling relationships. All these important themes are captured in a heartwarming and hilarious comedy. It is rare to find a movie these days that will make you smile and feel good about life after you watch it. This is one of them. It is such a great movie! Shall We Dance? Most Definitely!!
(Note: This is the original movie (Japanese w/ English subtitles) which was remade recently in an American version featuring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. This version is superior to the remake in every way!)
Movie Review: The lust for passion and the freedom of dancing
Summary: 5 Stars
Dancing has always been a form of rebellion. From the unseemly closeness of the Waltz to the banned gyrations of Elvis the Pelvis to modern day Freak Dancing, the freedom of expression and sexuality that accompanies dancing has shocked and shamed across the centuries, making heroes of those daring enough to challenge the rhythm of the music. Heroes like Shohei Sugiyama.
In the prescribed world of the Japanese salaryman, a pattern of life is expected. "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down" is a familiar Japanese expression. Middle-aged Shohei Sugiyama has always filled the role expected of him, going to work, doing his job and burying the passion of his soul into a deep and secret chamber. One day, glimpsed in a window, he discovers something that revives the long-forgotten feelings and brings up that need for freedom and expression that he sought to stifle forever. Fiery and sexy, dance instructor Mai Kishikawa ignites not only his passion for her, but Shohei's passion for life. As he comes to say, "At my age, it's embarrassing to say so, but every day I feel so alive. "
A comedy, Masayuki Suo's "Shall we Dance?" is peppered with wacky elements and crazy juxtapositions that one would expect of this situation. Tomio Aoki, played by Naoto Takenaka ("Ping Pong," "Waterboys,") possibly my favorite modern Japanese actor, is an ill-fitting mentor to the blossoming Shohei. A co-worker at the same office, on the weekends Tomio transforms into the flamboyant and be-wigged Donny Burns, Latin world champion. Only the monotonous and repressed world of the Japanese salaryman could produce such a character, as those who have lived with the freedom of expression all their lives would feel no need to rebel in such a manner.
There is a lightness and grace to "Shall we Dance?" that is a-typical of a Japanese film, and it is no wonder that it has been so successful abroad. Masayuki Suo is a fantastic director, and I would love the success of "Shall we Dance?" to open the door to American releases of some of his other films, including the Sumo comedy "Sumo do, Sumo don't."
I have never seen the American re-make, so I can offer no comparisons other than to say that Masayuki Suo's "Shall we Dance?" is not just a great Japanese movie, but a great movie period.
Movie Review: A Funny And Enjoyable Koji Yakusho Film!
Summary: 5 Stars
This film, released in 1997, and starring director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's regular, Koji Yakusho, in the title role is a wonderfully charming film. Sugiyama, (Koji Yakusho) [one of my favorite actors] is an overworked accountant whose life seems to be very unfulfilling to him. He has a beautiful wife, a charming daughter, and a new home. Moreover, he is well secured in his job. However, while on his commute from work to home he notices a woman on the top floor of a dance studio. He is fascinated at seeing the woman [maybe even sexually]. However, as the film moves along, we see that it is the drudgery of his life which causes him to seek out this dancer, and take dancing lessons.
One of the better roles in the film is by Aoki, (Naoto Takenaka). He gives a fabulous performance as a co-worker who has been secretly going to these dance lessons for years. I thought he was just fabulous in his respective role. There are some very hilarious moments with him and the other dancers in the film. This is not an action film, but a charming comedy-drama about one man who decides that he is willing to take the risk of learning how to dance in a society that does not look at ball-room dancing very favorably: at least in the film. The strong mores of Japanese society keep Aoki, and Sugiyama from letting anyone else know what they are doing every Wednesday night.
However, the wife of Sugiyama begins to suspect that her husband may be having an affair, as she smells perfume on his clothes. Sugiyama has kept this secret from everyone, including his wife. Therefore, his wife hires a private investigator to look into his activities, and what he is doing on these wednesday nights. This is not a film with complex plots, or action, or tense situations [except Sugiyama and Aoki's fears of being exposed], but is is sure one hell of a charming film that is a real treat to watch. I thought everyone in the film was incredible, and a delight to watch. I am not into dance films, or musicals, however, I highly recommend this delightful cinematic treat from Japan to ALL viewers.
Movie Review: Shall We Dance beats yankee version
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm sorry to be so critical of the American version of this film, but it lacks so much compared with this one. There is none of the emotional pain and distress that abounds in this movie.
Sugiyama is a Tokyo work drone who has just bought a house, the ulitimate status symbol, and is now going to have to work for the rest of his life to pay for it, a fact which depresses him. On his way home from work one night he sees a beautiful woman staring out of the window of a dance studio. After a few more trips, always looking for her out of the train window, he gets up the courage to get off at the stop and go up to the studio. In Japan, dancing is akin to one of the seven deadly sins, because even husbands and wives don't touch each other in public and do so with a stranger is more than embarassing. Since ballroom dancing not only involves touching, but being close to, a stranger in public, it is not regarded highly by society in general.
The object of his affection, a beautiful champion ballroom dancer who made the finals at Blackpool, makes it quite clear he shouldn't be dancing just to get close to her, but to his surprise he finds that, even though he started out for that reason, he enjoys the dancing. His older teacher soon enters him in a dance contest and he makes the final.
As a ballroom dancer myself, I enjoy this film for the highly realistic portrayal of what it is like to learn to dance. I also empathise strongly with the characters, particularly the fat guy dancing to lose weight. It is not easy to be one of society's outcasts, and all the dancers at the studio verge on outcasts.
If you're quick enough reading subtitles and enjoy a truly great film that manages to be engrossing, subtle, heart-wrenching and yet uplifting, without all the need for Hollywood talk and special effects, then this is the film for you. I loved it.