SHALL WE DANCE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
One night, as he leans his head wistfully against the window in his homeward bound train, the Japanese salaryman captures a fleeting glimpse of a strikingly beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. This chance encounter will forever change his life.
Back at home the changes in him will lead his wife to seek out the services of a private investigator, since she will begin to notice bizarre behavior, like secret dancing, and strange perfume smells on his clothes. She figures he is having an affair with another woman, which he isn't - well, not exactly.
In SHALL WE DANCE, writer and director Masayuki Suo fashions a tale of intricate beauty, full of romance and comedy. Although it is a descendant of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies as well as the more recent STRICTLY BALLROOM, the movie takes an approach so fresh and charming that it is easy to forget the formula roots of its plot. More than just a romantic comedy, it is a film of self-awakening and self-actualization.
Shohei Sugiyama, played with solemnity and reticence by Koji Yakusyo, works in an office where he is little more than another occupant of one of a sea of desks. A depressed forty-two-year-old, he has an attractive wife and daughter and a new home with concomitant mortgage payments, but he longs for something more. After the third celestial vision of his woman-in-the-window, he finally hops off the train to meet her. Since she is a dance instructor, he signs up for lessons albeit not with her, since individual lessons are too expensive. He choose a group setting while someone richer than he dances nearby with the woman of his dreams.
The new students in Sugiyama's little group are bad dressers and awkward dancers. His and their leaden feet lead to the expected number of slapstick results. More unusual is a wild Latin dancer with a mop hairdo who has been taking individual lessons for five years. He turns out to be Sugiyama's work colleague, Tomio Aoki, played with tremendous comic energy by Naoto Takenaka, who gets his new persona and younger looks by wearing a wig. His outlandish dance numbers drive his partners crazy. "I'm tired of you and your one-trick rumba," complains one. Aoki owns any scene he appears in. Even in the office, he moves with a ballroom dancer's stiff back and sharp turns. None are better than his ritualistic approach to the urinal.
After one dance session, Sugiyama follows his dream woman, Mai Kishikawa, a long-legged beauty played with serenity and aloofness by Japanese ballerina Tamiyo Kusakari. When he asks her to dinner, she crushes him with her brusque negative reply, "This may sound rude, but I hope you don't join the class with me as your goal." Rather than giving up, he redoubles his efforts, but they start shifting more to dance and less to Mai. A beautiful small scene shows his feet dancing in the office below his desk as he toils away on his computer.
Although nominally about dancing, the script contains so many gems of universal wisdom that, like Sun Tzu's "The Art of War," it could be used as a guide for success in business. "A weak first step transmits nothing," advises Mai to Sugiyama. He also gets help from an older dance instructor, who tells him, "Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy."
The last half of the picture develops a narrative drive as Sugiyama decides to enter a dance contest. Along the way are many more self-revelations for Sugiyama and preparation for the big dance is secondary. "At my age," he confesses to Mai, "it's embarrassing to say, but each day I feel so alive." In the film's most touching and revealing scene, he tells Mai that although he loves his wife and child, he was missing something in his life until she (Mai) came into it.
Each moment in the picture has the lead character falling deeper and deeper under a spell. How this spell is finally broken comes as something of a surprise, but the film itself will leave a lasting spell on the audience. It is almost impossible to leave the theater without a song in your heart. And watch those feet at work the next day. They may take off without your ever realizing it.
SHALL WE DANCE runs 2:03 but feels shorter. It is in Japanese with English subtitles and is rated PG for a couple of mild profanities. The film would be acceptable for all ages, but a kid would probably have to be around nine to enjoy it. I loved this sweet and uplifting little film so I recommend it to you and give it ***.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: August 3, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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