Shall we dansu? (1996)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Masayuki Suo

Writer:

Masayuki Suo (writer)

Release Date:

11 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

He's an overworked accountant. She's an accomplished dancer. Passion is about to find two unlikely partners.

Plot:

A successful but unhappy Japanese accountant finds the missing passion in his life when he begins to secretly take ballroom dance lessons.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Train | Dance Teacher | Dance Contest | Ballroom Dancing

Awards:

51 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Kôji Yakusho	...	Shohei Sugiyama
Tamiyo Kusakari	...	Mai Kishikawa
Naoto Takenaka	...	Tomio Aoki
Eriko Watanabe	...	Toyoko Takahashi
Yu Tokui	...	Tokichi Hattori
Hiromasa Taguchi	...	Masahiro Tanaka
Reiko Kusamura	...	Tamako Tamura
Hideko Hara	...	Masako Sugiyama
Hiroshi Miyasaka	...	Macho
Kunihiko Ida	...	Teiji Kaneko
Amie Toujou	...	Hisako Honda
Ayano Nakamura	...	Chikage Sugiyama
Katsunari Mineno	...	Keiri-kachô
Tomiko Ishii	...	Haruko Haraguchi
Maki Kawamura	...	Eiko Miyoshi

Also Known As:

Shall We Dance? (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language.

Runtime:

136 min | Argentina:118 min (cut version) | Germany:118 min (cut version) | Netherlands:118 min (cut version) | USA:118 min (cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Japan:U | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. (bw) | New Zealand:PG | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Company:

Altamira Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

The title is written in English as "Shall We Dansu" since in its original Japanese release, the first two words actual appear in English with only the last word appearing in katakana (one of three Japanese writing systems). The Japanese word for "dance" is pronounced "dansu".

Quotes:

Mai Kishikawa: This may sound rude, but I hope you don't join the class with me as your goal.

Movie Connections:

Features Follow Me! (1972)

Soundtrack:

Shall We Dance

The Passion of Life

A good movie with an outstanding story. Many assume that the movie is a love story from the typical Hollywood style: boy meets girl love affair. This is not. It is a story of a man who forgot to love life. His everyday life has become routine and he has no idea where his life is taking him. He has a house and car payment and a family of 3 that he has to provide for. From home, he takes his bicycle to the train and then he takes the train to work. Everyday, same old, same old. Then, one day he sees something that turns his world up-side-down. Dancing? A new way to express himself, a way to communicate with others and show his true colors. The passion he finds is not in a woman or mere lust, but in living life to the fullest. He begins to stop and look around him as he uses dancing to live. A terrific cast of funny and heart filled characters. This is not a movie about Japan or the Japanese, although it does take place in Japan and the cast is made up of Japanese. The setting and the plot of this movie is timeless.