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Shall We Dance?
(original Japanese 1995 version....NOT the remake!)
Directed by Masayuki Suo
So how interesting can ballroom dancing be? I mean it's not like we haven't all seen this before. Many times in more snooty films about English people in the 1800's or something. In THIS film, the ballroom dancing is placed squarely in Japan. A country very different from America with a dancing style which is very UN-Japanese.
This film is about a man named Sugiyama in his 40's. He goes to work. He has a nice big house (it's really nice). He has a wife and a daughter. But life is boring. He's worked all his life for everything he has but....what now? The only thing he can do is go to work. He has to pay the mortgage! The only kind of enjoyment he could have would be to go out after work drinking with his co-workers (a Japanese tradition actually). But that's not so much his thing so what does he do?
Well one night he's riding home on the train and he sees a woman standing in a window. It turns out she's in a dance studio, and it's a place that teaches ballroom dancing. He sees her everyday as he comes home from work but eventually works up the nerve to go in the dance studio. Once inside, he signs up for dance lessons.
In Japan, ballroom dancing is looked at with suspition. Japanese people are not ones to be "affectionate" in public. In the 50's, the first two Japanese films with a kiss in them (they both came out at the same time) were HUGE successes because this was something VERY new to them. You just don't do this in pubic. So, in turn, ballroom dancing is a pretty private matter with the Japanese. For one thing, you are dancing while holding on to someone, and seeing as how this person is usually NOT your husband or wife it can be very disgraceful.
However, Sugiyama-san decides to try it out. As long as no one knows, he'll be ok. His original motive was just to be near the dancing instructor Mai (the woman he watched coming home from work every night). But as he continues his lessons, he really awakens something inside himself. He is much happier. He feels much more confident in himself and he is a much happier man at work and at home as well. His wife however suspects something is wrong and hires an investigator. She thinks he is having an affair possibly (and why shouldn't she?). Every Wednesday he stays out late. And he heads out many times on the weekends. So of course she is worried about him.
Sugiyama-san ends up becoming one of his instructor's dance partners and him and her train for a competition. Toyoko and Sugiyama work alongisde Mai and end up doing very well together. There is one scene before the big dance competition between Sugiyama and Mai that really brings the two together. Both tell each other their feelings and explain their motives regarding each other.
I won't ruin anything from the dance competition on to the end of the film, but I will say that this all works. Sadly I have now found out that I only watched a CUT version (Screw you Miramax!!!! STOP CUTTING FILMS BEFORE FILM FANS START DESTROYING YOU EDITING SOFTWARE!!!!! I'll do it!!! I cannot stand that, and they do that ALL the time...ANYWAY!). This version is 119 minutes while the ACTUAL version of the film is 137. Even though I only saw the cut version I still HIGHLY enjoyed this film and will probably seek out the REAL version of this movie now.
This film is more about Sugiyama and his two classmates he starts his dance lessons with. The two classmates are really fun guys and they both have specific qualities that Sugiyama doesn't. All of these men are different but are brought together through dance. After their first lesson, they end up going to the same bar and somewhat make a pact to stay in this together. Thankfully they do because the other two guys are so funny!
The best thing about this film is that it's about liberation and not some adulterous affair. Whereas MOST American films would kind of put the affair in there and make it more of a plot point. The thing that makes this film BETTER than the American Remake with Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon......and Jennifer Lopez *groans* is that the Japanese make different kinds of films. The remake is all about plot. Japanese films (while they CAN be very heavily plotted as well) can be much less plotted but still keep a viewer's interest. This film is very much a "spectator" of sorts to what is happening to these characters, and is something the American remake doesn't do.
In the end this film is about a man finding happiness in something that would normally embarrass most people around him. He becomes liberated and free even though he is still in his daily work routine. This film is VERY good and is something that people of any age can enjoy.
I give this film
[4/5]
This film shows that even in a boring life, there is always something that can in fact free a person. I highly enjoyed this film and would recommend you go see it VERY soon! It's very heartwarming and really gave me a smile...and I'm sure it will for you to......Now I must go, I have to find an UNCUT version of this film.....I'm sick of Miramax....UGH. You know they did this to Shaolin Soccer too.....and Hero.......Miramax seriously needs to get their heads on straight, it's NOT about the length or rating of a film, it's about the directors vision.....stop messing with things!!!!
September 13 , 2010
ILLegal Alien: Jedi Link of USA.
Of all the muthafuckas in the world, he's the muthafuckest.
This one is a bizarre case. Some places he fits in, others he stands out. No matter where you find him, he'll always be the same guy as he never puts up a facade for any reason. A filmmaker on the rise he has a vast knowledge of useless garbage. If it's in a movie he's seen it. Thanks to the internet he's seen worse. This one is severely scarred by an incomprehension of how retarded people can be. Generally a loner, he knows few, those few don't always support him so he stands on his own.
He is relentless in his pursuit as a filmmaker and refuses to be left out of a business he wants to see improve. He also has ADD which explains the somewhat "all over" nature of his own description.