"He's an overworked accountant. She's an accomplished dancer.
Passion is about to find two unlikely partners."
"She's got the moves...But he's got two left feet!"
"It is not a movie about dancing, but it is about learning about
ourselves, recognizing what we are looking for in life and having
the courage to go in search of it." - Julie Southwell
The film opens with an explanation of why the traditional Japanese
culture has a problem with ballroom dancing, as the audience visually
sees a huge roomful of ballroom dancers, gliding around a large
historic auditorium. "In a country where married couples don't
go out arm in arm, much less say, I love you, intuitive understanding
is everything. The idea that a husband and wife should embrace
and dance in front of others, is beyond embarrassing. However,
to go out dancing with another woman, would be misunderstood,
and prove more shameful. None the less, even for Japanese people,
there is a secret wonder, about the joys that dance can bring."
Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakkusho) is a 40 year old, successful,
serious businessman, who is married to a lovely wife, Masako (Hideko
Hara) has a precocious teenage daughter, Chikage, and has just
managed to buy a house for his family. It is a lovely, 2 story
gray house, which even has a garden. He feels that he had to pledge
his soul to his company in order to do so. He comments to an employee,
concerning his work: "It's not a matter of like or dislike, it's
my job." In other words, it is his obligation.
He gets up every morning at 5:30 AM and doesn't get home until
8:00 - 9:00 PM at night. He feels that he should be happy with
his life, but finds himself depressed, looking for something else
that seems to be missing, a joy that can be only gotten from the
arts.
Every night on his way home from the office, the commuter train
stops at a station where you can see the Kishikawa School of Dancing.
Often, a beautiful, young dance instructor, Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo
Kusakari) can be seen wistfully looking out the window, in a somber
mood. Sometimes, he sees men having dance lessons with her. Something
about dancing starts to tug at his heart, pulling him toward a
hidden desire.
When he manages to get his nerve up, he finally gets out of the
commuter train at this station, very unsure of himself. After
making sure no one sees him, he goes up the stairs, but stops
at the door. He is literally pushed into the studio by an impatient
dance instructor, the very blunt, upfront Toyoko Takahashi (Eriko
Watanabe), a lady in her mid to late thirties who works two other
jobs as well. After being sternly scolded by Toyoko for being
in the way, the beautiful girl asks him if he wants to take lessons.
While private lessons run 6,000 yen, he finds out that there
is one space open in the beginning dance class, for only 2,000
yen, taught by the gentle matron, Tamako Tamura (Reiko Kusamura),
a serene, patient Japanese woman in her late fifties-early sixties,
who runs the studio, for Mr. Kishikawa, the father of Mai Kishikawa.
So, he finds himself in a class with two other men, Masahiro Tanaka
(Hiromasa Taguchi) and Tokichi Hattori (Yu Tokui,) without telling
his wife, who he thinks wouldn't understand.
At first, his progress is slow, as it seems that he has two left
feet. He finds out by accident, though that a systems analyst
in his office, Tomio Aoki (Naoto Takenaka) is an enthusiastic
lover of Latin dancing. One night at the studio, Tomio Aoki gets
carried away while practicing with his partner, bumping into Toyoko,
knocking her to the floor. Toyoko Takahashi pulls off his wild
wig, yelling at him. Tomio Aoki used this wig to turn into his
dance personae, Donny, a man who feels free to express his joy
in dancing, pulling out all stops, which sometimes creeps out
or annoys his partners.
With the support of Aoki, his classmates, and his patient teacher,
Tamako Tamura, Shohei Sugiyama experiences for the first time,
the joy of dancing when he conquers the basic steps of the waltz
and two step. His confidence boosted, he attempts to invite Mai
out for coffee. She misinterprets his motives, coldly rebuffs
him, saying that she doesn't get friendly with the students, as
she keeps it all on a professional level.
Wanting to prove to her his real intentions, to learn to dance,
he throws himself into lessons, trying to improve his skills.
Meanwhile, his wife and daughter notice the change in his personality
and his uncustomary behavior of coming home later. While his wife
is happy about the new spring in his step, his happier disposition,
she starts to worry when he not only comes home late on Wednesdays
(lesson night), but discovers a new smell on his shirts. His daughter
tells her mother that her dad is acting strangely when she sees
him practicing his dance steps while seated at the computer.
Afraid to ask him what was going on, his wife goes to a private
investigator and hires him and a young sidekick photographer to
follow Shohei for two days, to find out the truth. They take pictures
of Shohei taking lessons, dancing with his teacher, and Toyoko,
and show them to his wife. The investigator in the process of
tailing Shohei, becomes fascinated with Shohei's dedication to
dancing, and becomes interested himself eventually. He offers
to continue to keep an eye on Shohei for his wife for free, in
order to explore the world of ballroom dancing. He further observes
Shohei going to the ballroom association's dances, and his training
for the amateur contest that Shohei finds himself entering with
his partner, Toyoko Takahashi in the waltz and two-step categories.
Tamako Tamura asks Mai to coach Shohei and Toyoko. As Mai helps
them train, her attitude changes as she sees how hard Shohei is
working on his posture, his form as he earnestly does his best
to follow her coaching tips. Through helping these two, Mai has
a personal revelation about why she failed at her last competition
in England, and what she was personally missing from the experience
of dancing, because of an attitude she needed to correct.
At the end of his first year of dancing, they are ready for the
amateur competition. On the day of the competition, a very nervous
Shohei, a confident Toyoko, two very supportive people, dance
sensais Tamako Tamura and Mia Kishikawa arrive at the ballroom.
Unknown to Shohei, four more people are there as well. The investigator
and his helper, who got Shohei's wife and daughter there to observe
Shohei's dedication to dance, arrive to see Shohei compete. The
investigator hopes to help Shohei and Masako's marriage to heal.
Much to the delight of Shohei's supporters, Shohei and Toyoko
dance superbly during the waltz competition, but an embarrassing
accident happens during the two step, when Shohei's concentration
is broken for just an instant, when he hears his daughter's enthusiastic
cry of encouragement.
Well, the cat is out of the bag. Shohei and his wife have some
talking to do. The audience at this point wonders what will happen
next. What will his wife's reaction be? Will he continue to dance,
after suffering humiliation? Will their daughter teach them something,
as children often do, because of their younger perspective on
life? Will he ever get to dance with Mia? Has Mia been inspired
to try again at professional dancing?
"Shall We Dance?" is a classic foreign film because of its poignant,
funny story, done from a Japanese cultural point of view, wonderful
direction, great cinematography and talented cast.
"Shall We Dance?," was a labor of love written and directed by
Masayuki Suo, whose film was very well received by audiences not
only in Japan, but in the west as well, especially America. About
every four years, Masayuki Suo comes up with a script and makes
a movie. This film is one of his best efforts, as it combines
Japanese culture with an art form from the west, ballroom dancing
that offers a joy to the human spirit that transcends cultural
differences, using humor as well as poignant moments to add sparkle
to this entertaining story.
This group of talented group of actors and actresses got into
the spirit of the film, showing how important the arts are to
help a person grow and evolve, filling needs of the human spirit
that can't be filled in any other way. Interestingly, all the
participants, both teachers and students are transformed by their
involvement in dance, as they discover for themselves "the splendor
of dance when you trust and allow yourself to enjoy."
Koji Yakusho does a great job in his portrayal of Shohei Sugiyama,
a Japanese man who is fiercely dedicated to his family and his
job, but has an unexpressed need to explore the art of ballroom
dancing, an activity that was socially unacceptable to the majority
of Japanese people. After this film was released, his acting career
took off in Japan. Interestingly, Koji worked in the business
world before he decided to be an actor, so he has a personal knowledge
of the stresses of the business world.
Tamiyo Kusakari, who is a professional ballet dancer, brings
her expertise and intuition to her first film role, convincingly
portraying dance instructor / coach, Mai KishiKawa.
The talented, accomplished Japanese actor, Naoto Tokui brings
his character, the slightly odd, quirky Tomino Aoki, roaring to
life, expressing a variety of emotions through physical acting,
personal demeanor, much to the delight of the audience. Aoki is
a quirky man scorned by others in the office, but is a Latin dancing
dynamo, in his secret life at the dance studio, at club dances
and competitions. Because of his involvement with dance, the support
of fellow dancers and his friendship with Shohei, he grows as
a person, finding some personal peace with who he is as a man.
A hilarious scene with these two takes place in the office bathroom,
when Aoki tries to give Shohei some help in his dancing. As they
assume the ballroom position, a younger office member enters and
sees them. The fast-thinking Aoki feigns illness, collapsing into
Shohei's arms, sending the young man scurrying out in a hurry
to get help. |
SHALL
WE DANCE? ... THE FOREIGN REVIEW 
