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I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Masayuki Suo has produced a melodramatic story set in Japan that features ballroom dancing. Neither would particularly appeal however the film is elevated by a combination of depth, comedy featuring Aoki San and scenes shot in Blackpool! The most impressive aspect of this movie is how all of the characters come to life. Nearly 15 years after its release, its only now that I have had the pleasure of seeing it.The story focuses on a man undergoing a mid-life crisis who spontaneously takes up ballroom dancing. The film proceeds to follow the characters who make up the dance class.I am sometimes amazed how we can interpret characters in a film just by their physical appearance. For example Tamako Sensei is the forgiving type of person that she appears! Also Macho is the sleazy type of dancer that he appears! They wouldn't need to do or say anything and I would still conclude the same.Pros - Every single thing plus Aoki SanCons - The score is occasionally heavy handedOverall - 11 out of 10

Shall We Dance is about a bored accountant Sugiyama,who on his evening commute,always looks at 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,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 ultra-competitive women of the studio--including the one who caught Sugiyama's eye, Mai --and the men who dance simply because they enjoy it.This is a great film tackles issues such as the views on men in the Japanese culture,mid-life crisis and ballroom dancing.The cast in the film were excellent.This is one of the best Japanese films I have ever seen.And it is not a horror film.It takes into consideration the pains of middle-age and the need to feel alive during that stage. Overall,it is the best non-horror Japanese film I have ever seen. Highly recommended to everyone who wants an entertaining movie.

There are many pervasive themes that exist within the Japanese community expressed in this film. From the very beginning, there is an accepted social and intuitive understanding of subtext within the culture itself, which is to say that everything is implied and nothing is direct. For example, it is subconsciously known between the communities never to say "I love you" out loud, that dancing is considered "socially embarrassing and for losers", and that husbands and wives sleep in separate beds. With all of these known yet not expressed social taboos, the lead character, Mr. Sugiyama, demonstrates his life within this community as a monotonous and rather robotic workaholic. He is a type of the many who suffer from the same dilemma.The people within the community attempt to disguise themselves from their true inner passions. As for the characters focused on in the story, all of them secretly love to dance. Sugiyama's coworker, Mr. Aoki, renders a very literal disguise of his love for dancing by dressing as a Latin clubber wearing a wig. Later in a conversation with Sugiyama, he expresses his embarrassment for dancing. He states that it is due to the fear of being found out by the office and the ensuing gossip which would then inevitably follow. In essence, the community presented in the film is a community that is subconsciously told to be afraid of being human. In other words, the humane aspect of their nature is being told to be shunned—to not express itself! Coming from a post-Communistic society (at least in various regions of the land), it is no wonder that the community suffers from a lack of expression. To "express" would go against what was once forbidden by law. It is evidence that such negative repercussions have still been ingrained in the community blood and will perhaps take years to completely divorce wherefrom. Even the word "dance"—the predominant form of expression—excites their souls on so many levels both literally and figuratively. The unspoken and renowned Japanese axiom seems to penetrate the very core of every character within the community: "There are fools who dance and fools who don't dance. Everyone is a fool so we better all dance." This axiom is the basis that holds the community together. It suggests that everyone is doing the "dance of life" whether they know it or not. How they dance this dance is strictly up to them and is constantly being observed. The word "dance" itself suggests many things—to express, to live life to its fullest, to overcome fear/anxiety, to standout and be unique and unprecedented, and many others. The heroes of the story are heroes in the viewer's eyes because they choose to dance regardless of how stupid they may appear in others eyes. This ideology forms the basis of the characters enduring through the challenges they face (i.e. the fat man being made fun of for his dance etiquette but continuing to dance anyway; Mr. Sugiyama determined to perfect his dance, whether at home, work or bathroom, despite being rejected by the beautiful dance instructor he hoped to impress). In closing, it is a community that seemingly fails in knowing how to dance correctly, yet continues to persevere such rejections and let downs. There is no right or wrong way with how to dance—it this idea that makes each of us completely unique and therefore irreplaceable.

Shall We Dansu? is a very non-Hollywood take, but it does fit in with it's predecessors - "Roseland" (which spotlighted my college roommate's mother for 4 whole minutes as a Roseland devotee), "Queen of the Stardust Ballroom" and "Strictly Ballroom." In more conventional movies the klutzy dance learners are really Broadway dancers who miraculously learn and become dazzling. Here I think even the "instructors" were actors and there's no dazzle. Odder, the music sounds like it's out of a karaoke machine, like Japanese re-interpretations of Western pop music, which I think is the theme of the Japanese taking on this Western hobby as well. A bit is lost in our ignorance of Japanese culture and mores though the narrator fills us in a bit. (There's a great line where a contestant in the dance competition is disqualified after he interrupts another's routine. "Ungentlemanly behavior - this is a British sport after all.")It's such a relief when the soundtrack suddenly breaks out in "Save the Last Dance For Me" before it goes back to the slightly off-rhythm, slightly off in some way music. The dancers weren't dancing to the music either - they rehearse without music.Regardless, it's a wonderful movie and only music fans would complain . I cried at several scenes. It's quite unpredictable in its comedy and touching in very unexpected ways. The audience clapped at the end. It's very annoying that the credits aren't translated except for a few leads. Stay thru the credits, though, as the dancing continues.(originally written 7/23/1997)