Shall We Dance? (1996)
by Masayuki Suo
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Actor: Akira Emoto, Eriko Watanabe, Koji Yakusho, Naoto Takenaka, Tamiyo KusakariDirector: Masayuki Suo
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: Masayuki Suo
Producer: Yasuyoshi Tokuma
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.1
Format: NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2012-01-04
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: LIONSGATE
DVD Reviews of Shall We Dance? (1996)
DVD Review: Mr. Sugiyama decides to take some ballroom dancing lessons
Summary: 5 Stars
At the beginning of "Shall We Dansu," the 1996 Japanese film Americanized as "Shall We Dance" last year, it is explained that in Japan ballroom dancing is regarded with great suspicion. After all, Japan is a country where couples do not go walking hand in hand or say, "I love you" to each other. Those who flout convention to engage in such activities are certified eccentrics to most of their fellow citizens, but that is not how they see themselves. Certainly that is not how Shohei Sugiyama (Kôji Yakusho) sees himself.
Sugiyama is a forty-something who goes to sit at a desk and work in an office building and then goes home to his wife (Hideko Hara) and daughter (Ayano Nakamura). As he commutes home the train stops at a station and when he looks up, Sugiyama sees a lovely young woman looking out the window of a dance school. Every time the train stops at that station, there she is. So one day he gets off the train and goes up to the dance studio where he signs up for lessons. At first it looks like Sugiyama has two left feet, but he seems slightly more competent than his two classmates in beginning ballroom, the slightly overweight Masahiro Tanaka (Hiromasa Taguchi) and the extremely talkative Tokichi Hattori (Yu Tokui).
The problem is that the dancing class ends up not being taught by Mia Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari, a ballerina by occupation), the woman in the window, but rather by the school's director, Tamako Tamura (Reiko Kusamura). Meanwhile, Mia gives personal lessons to others while Sugiyama can only sneak glances. We learn that Mai was once a world level competitive dancer, but now she is reduced to these circumstances. When she senses that she is Sugiyama's goal, Mia politely chastises him. But by then it has become clear that Mia is a symbol of an ideal, and that Sugiyama is there to dance.
Of course his wife has become equally suspicious and hires a detective to find out what her husband is up to when he keeps coming home late from work. They are not as aware of how Sugiyama has changed because of his lessons as we are, but they have noticed the differences. Perhaps the biggest cultural differences this movie reflects from a Western perspective is that when the detectives and Sugiyama's family find out what he is up to, they choose bewildered acceptance over anguish recrimination, although a final confrontation is forthcoming in the wake of the big dance contest.
The biggest difference between "Shall We Dansu" and "Shall We Dance" is the casting and performance of Kôji Yakusho. The stories are essentially the same to such a degree that it really does make a big difference which of the two you watch first. But Yakusho is such a figure of quiet dignity that he becomes the eye of the storm that is created around him by the hopes and dreams of his fellow dancers. Sugiyama is brought into sharp contrast when his character discovers a kindred spirit at work in Tomio Aoki (Naoto Takenaka), who can only do the Latin dances he loves when he is wearing a stupid looking wig. With Sugiyama thoughts and feelings are communicated more by how he stands than anything he says, which explains why his dancing becomes so important to him.
Writer-director Masayuki Suo's film will certainly resonate more with a Japanese audience who can better appreciate what he has to say about the repression of males in that society. But it is being on the outside looking in that makes us enjoy this film because it does compel us to think across cultural lines. That is why it makes sense that I am not only comparing "Shall We Dansu" with "Shall We Dance" in terms of DVDs I watched this week, but also with "The Grudge" as well.
Description of Shall We Dance? (1996)
Here's the irresistible comedy treat that had critics and audiences cheering all across America...and inspired the new Hollywood hit starring Richard Gere (Chicago), Jennifer Lopez (Maid in Manhattan) and Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)! A middle-aged workaholic's incredibly dull life takes a funny turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class - just to meet the sexy dance teacher. But when he finally muscles up the nerve for lessons, he winds up with a different instructor and her colorfully eccentric class of beginners! And now he'll have to step lightly - and do some fancy footwork - if he expects to keep his new secret passion from his family and friends!This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
On his evening commute, bored accountant Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) always looks for the beautiful woman who gazes wistfully out the window of the Kishikawa School of Dancing. One night he gets off the train, walks into the studio, and signs up for a class. Soon Sugiyama is so engrossed in his dancing he practices his steps on the train platform and under his desk, and becomes good enough for competition, compelling his wife to hire a private investigator to find out why he stays out late and returns home smelling of perfume. Among the colorful characters Sugiyama meets is his coworker Aoki (Naoto Takenaka), who transforms himself from geeky systems analyst to hilariously flamboyant (and bad-wigged) lounge lizard. Aoki explains to Sugiyama, "When I finish work, put on the clothes, the wig and become Donny Burns, Latin world champion, and I start to move to the rhythm, I'm so happy, so completely free." Here lies the chief charm of Shall We Dance, the contrast between the ultracompetitive women of the studio--including the one who caught Sugiyama's eye, Mai (Tamiyo Kusakari)--and the men who dance simply because they enjoy it. This 1996 film is somewhat comparable to the flamboyant Aussie favorite Strictly Ballroom, but Shall We Dance is especially noteworthy for contrasting the boldness of social dance with the buttoned-up societal mores of Japan, where people avoid public displays of emotion. Even in Japan, the joy of dance is irresistible. --David Horiuchi
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