A successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.
Director:
Masayuki SuoWriter:
Masayuki Suo
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Title: Shall We Dance? (1996)
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55 wins & 7 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kôji Yakusho | ... | Shohei Sugiyama (as Koji Yakusho) | |
 |
Tamiyo Kusakari | ... | Mai Kishikawa |
| Naoto Takenaka | ... | Tomio Aoki | |
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Eri Watanabe | ... | Toyoko Takahashi (as Eriko Watanabe) |
|
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Yu Tokui | ... | Tokichi Hattori |
|
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Hiromasa Taguchi | ... | Masahiro Tanaka |
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Reiko Kusamura | ... | Tamako Tamura (as Raiko Kusamura) |
|
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Hideko Hara | ... | Masako Sugiyama |
|
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Hiroshi Miyasaka | ... | Macho |
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Kunihiko Ida | ... | Teiji Kaneko |
|
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Amie Toujou | ... | Hisako Honda |
|
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Ayano Nakamura | ... | Chikage Sugiyama |
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Katsunari Mineno | ... | Keiri-kachô |
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Tomiko Ishii | ... | Haruko Haraguchi |
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Maki Kawamura | ... | Eiko Miyoshi |
Edit
Plot Summary
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Storyline
Shohei Sugiyama has attained all that he has wanted in life. But he is still depressed and unhappy. One day, he gathers up the courage to sign up for dancing lessons. He hopes they will rid his depression and help him get his life back together. Written by Robert Krzanowski <stonedpsycho@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords:
self discovery | husband wife relationship | dance | ballroom dancing | dance contest |Taglines:
He's an overworked accountant. She's an accomplished dancer. Passion is about to find two unlikely partners.Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
JapanLanguage:
JapaneseRelease Date:
11 July 1997 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Shall We Dance? See more »Edit
Box Office
Opening Weekend USA:
$88,106, 13 July 1997, Limited ReleaseGross USA:
$9,676,677, 23 January 1998Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (USA) (cut)Sound Mix:
Dolby SRColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by Taeko Ohnuki
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
In the first scene, a man's shoe in close-up plunges into a black pool in the street. This symbolizes the world renowned Ballroom Dancing Competition in Blackpool, England, referenced later in the film. See more »Quotes
Shohei Sugiyama: At my age, it's embarrassing to say so, but every day I feel so alive.See more »
Alternate Versions
Different prologue: In the beginning of the Japanese version, a voice-over introduces the history and meaning of ballroom dancing in European culture and explains "enjoyed by people of all ages, it is a healthy diversion". The prologue of the US release explains the reserved mannerisms of Japanese culture and that ballroom dancing is considered something like a scandalous pasttime there. See more »Soundtracks
Shall We DanceMusic by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Performed by Taeko Ohnuki
See more »
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I don't like "grade inflation" but I just had to give this a 10. I can't think of anything I didn't like about it. I saw it last night and woke up today thinking about it. I'm sure that the Hollywood remake that someone told me about, with J Lo and Richard Gear, will be excellent, but this original Japanese version from 1996 was so emotional and thought-provoking for me that I am hard-pressed to think of any way that it could be improved, or its setting changed to a different culture.
A story I found worth watching, and with o fist-fight scenes or guns going off or anything of the sort! Imagine that!
All the characters seemed well-developed, ... even non-primary characters had good character-development and enjoyable acting, and the casting seemed very appropriate.
It's always hard to find a good movie-musical in our day and age, and perhaps this doesn't quite qualify (there is plenty of learning how to dance, but no singing) but I really think that Gene Kelly and others who championed a place for dance in our lives would have thought so very highly of this film and the role of dance in helping to tell a story about a middle aged man, successful with a family in Japan, looking for something... he knows not precisely what.
To the team of people in Japan who contributed to this film, thank you for creating and doing it.