Remade in 2004 as an American movie, Masayuki Suo’s Shall We Dance? really has much more cultural and social impact as a Japanese film. More a motion picture about yearning and self-expression than about dance, this is one pleasing piece of work from start to finish. Suo’s movie sparkles with oodles of joy, pushing all of the right buttons and playing all of the right cards in proper succession. It is manipulative and proud of it!
One of the great aspects of Suo’s filmmaking here is that he knows how to express simple thoughts with simple shots. The idea of loneliness, for instance, is granted to us within minutes of getting to know the characters with which we’ll be spending the duration of the movie. Whether he’s setting up distance by showing a character looking out of a window or showing contentment by offering another dancing in the rain, Suo knows how to express the human experience with clarity and affection.
A true treasure, Shall We Dance? isn’t a movie about plot progressions. It is, instead, a movie about pure joy through expression. Sure, there are complications. It wouldn’t be a movie without them. Still, Suo does such a good job at keeping the complications realistic and enjoyable and we, the audience, are the better for us. The structure, the comedy, and the beauty of Shall We Dance? makes for an incredible film experience. If you’ve seen the 2004 version with Richard Gere, put the Japanese version on your too-see list as soon as possible.
Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) is an office worker trapped in the boredom of his existence. Sure, he’s got a dutiful wife in Masako (Hideko Hara) and he loves his daughter Chikage (Ayano Nakamura), but something’s missing. Sugiyama begins to feel depressed and needs something, anything, to pull out of the funk he’s in. One day he spots Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari) looking out of the window of a dance studio. He becomes somewhat infatuated with her, captivated by this image of a woman looking longingly out on to the street.
Sugiyama eventually works up the courage to head up to the dance studio and, pushed in at the last minute, embarks on an unlikely journey of self-discovery and movement only to discover what he really needed all along. Tamako Tamura (Reiko Kusamura) becomes his teacher and mentor, while he makes friends with some classmates and discovers that a co-worker is also into dance. Culturally, however, Sugiyama feels shameful for not sliding into the normal role designated for Japanese men and he keeps his dancing a secret from his wife. This leads to interesting complications, of course, but Suo’s film elegantly resolves them just in time for the big moment to arrive.
The characters of Shall We Dance? are tremendous and highly entertaining. From Tokoichi Hattori (Yu Tokui), who joined to impress his wife, to Masahiro Tanaka (Hiromasa Taguchi), Suo’s characters are vibrant and exciting. They are also very comedic, as the talents of Taguchi are simply irresistible. He makes us laugh and damn near makes us cry, too. Yakusho is the perfect centrepiece, splitting down the middle of the more colourful characters with his traditional Japanese stoicism.
As elegant and entertaining a film on self-expression as I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, Suo’s Shall We Dance? is wonderful. Its inevitability is far outweighed by its internal magic and heart of gold, communicating an important commentary on escaping social norms in order to pursue unique, genuine joy. How much more remarkable could our world be if we all made that step and pursued our own “woman in the window”, if only for a second just to see where it all leads?
9.4/10
