SHALL WE DANCE? ... THE FOREIGN REVIEW

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"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.

Hiromasa Taguchi, who is a member of a famous Japanese comedian group, Tension, successfully made a transition to films as an actor after portraying one of Shohei's classmates, Masahiro Tanaka, in the beginning ballroom class. As well as portraying a comedic character, he also shows all that he can be a dramatic actor as well, crumbling emotionally when the hot-tempered Toyoko really hurts his feelings at the dance studio.

Reiko Kusamura is most convincing in her portrayal as the patient, kind, wise dance sensai, Tamako Tamura, who helps everyone to grow through their dance experiences. At the end, she was beginning to draw the private investigator into the joy and splendor of learning to dance, who by this time is totally hooked and perhaps ready to take dance lessons himself!

Hideko Hara does an excellent job portraying Shohei's perplexed and conflicted lonely wife, who loves her husband dearly and is glad that her husband is happier, but worries if he is seeing another woman, as she misses him when he is late coming home. When she finds out the truth, she struggles with what really is important to her and her husband, exploring her own feelings about dancing, coming to some hard, insightful decisions.

Koji Yakusho and Hideko Hara offer a fascinating view of married life in Japan for westerners. How they interact and how they discuss matters is in a completely different manner than western couples typically would do.

My favorite scenes in this film are those at the ballroom competition, the scene where the daughter of Shohei and Mai intercedes with her idea on how to draw her parents together, and the last 20 minutes of the film, which ends on a heartwarming, happy note, appropriate for a comedy.

This film is rated PG-13. I don't know why it wasn't rated PG, as there is no sex or violence or suggestible material. Go figure! The Japanese actors /actresses were on their best behavior, and used appropriate language. The film is in Japanese with English subtitles, and is appropriate for family viewing.

If you enjoyed "Shall We Dance?", you may like "Billy Elliott," "Flashdance," "Saturday Night Fever," "The Black Stallion," "The Commitments," and "The Turning Point."

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