Shall we dansu? (1996)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Masayuki Suo

Writer:

Masayuki Suo (writer)

Release Date:

11 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

He's an overworked accountant. She's an accomplished dancer. Passion is about to find two unlikely partners.

Plot:

A successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Train | Dance Teacher | Dance Contest | Ballroom Dancing

Awards:

51 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Kôji Yakusho	...	Shohei Sugiyama
Tamiyo Kusakari	...	Mai Kishikawa
Naoto Takenaka	...	Tomio Aoki
Eriko Watanabe	...	Toyoko Takahashi
Yu Tokui	...	Tokichi Hattori
Hiromasa Taguchi	...	Masahiro Tanaka
Reiko Kusamura	...	Tamako Tamura
Hideko Hara	...	Masako Sugiyama
Hiroshi Miyasaka	...	Macho
Kunihiko Ida	...	Teiji Kaneko
Amie Toujou	...	Hisako Honda
Ayano Nakamura	...	Chikage Sugiyama
Katsunari Mineno	...	Keiri-kachô
Tomiko Ishii	...	Haruko Haraguchi
Maki Kawamura	...	Eiko Miyoshi

Also Known As:

Shall We Dance? (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language.

Runtime:

136 min | Argentina:118 min (cut version) | Germany:118 min (cut version) | Netherlands:118 min (cut version) | USA:118 min (cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Japan:U | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. (bw) | New Zealand:PG | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Company:

Altamira Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

The title comes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein song, "Shall We Dance", written for 1951 Broadway musical "The King and I". A version sung by Deborah Kerr for the 1956 movie release is referenced throughout this film and featured in its climatic dance sequence

Quotes:

Tamako Tamura: Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.

Movie Connections:

Features Follow Me! (1972)

Soundtrack:

Shall We Dance

Heartwarming film

This film is about a man who has been too caught up with the accepted convention of success, trying to be ever upwardly mobile, working hard so that he could be proud of owning his own home. He assumes this is all there is to life until he accidentally takes up dancing, all because he wanted to get a closer look of a beautiful girl that he sees by the dance studio everyday while riding the subway on his way home.

His was infatuated with her at first, going to the dance class just to idolize her, but he eventually lets himself go and gets himself into the dancing. It eventually becomes apparent to him that there is more to life than working yourself to death. There is a set of oddball characters also learning in the studio, giving the film a lot of laughs and some sense of bonding between the dejected.

There is also revelations of various characters, including the girl he initially admired, giving some depth to them by showing their blemished past and their struggle to overcome it.

The dancing was also engaging, with the big competition at the end, but it is not the usual story where our underdog come out at the top by winning it. Instead, there are downfalls, revelations and redemption.

All these makes it a moving and fun film to watch.