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 |
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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
Gross USA:
$9,499,091Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$9,499,091Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (USA) (cut)Sound Mix:
Dolby SRColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Written by Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus
Performed by The Drifters
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
Tamako Tamura: Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.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
Save the Last Dance for MeWritten by Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus
Performed by The Drifters
See more »
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Okay. As you can see this is one of my favorite if not favorite films. This is a character drama which is absolutely hilarious. The main character is a business man who is stuck in a "same thing, different day" mentality. He sees a woman looking melancholy out a window of a dance studio from his train everyday and wonders about her and decides to find out more about her. He decides to join the dance class only to find out she is not the instructor. From there he bonds with four other dancers and learns to enjoy dancing as well as finding out about the mysterious woman.
There is no gratuitous (or any) sex involved, just how a small group of people learn how friendships are formed and developed.
This film was remade with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez and the new one while appealing is nowhere as enjoyable as the original. The movie never made it big in America because it was not eligible for the Oscars since it was broadcast on television in Japan (movies cannot be released on TV or they are disqualified for Oscar nominations). It did win numerous awards in Japan for best film, cast, director etc for their "Oscar" awards.