Shall we dansu? (1996)

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
Eri Watanabe	...	Toyoko Takahashi (as Eriko Watanabe)
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
Takako Matsuzaka	...	Fusako Fukube
Kôichi Ueda	...	Torakichi Kumada
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akira Emoto	...	Tôru Miwa
Nanea Hoffman	...	Tomodachi
Robert Hoffman	...	Tomodachi
Hirotaro Honda	...	Sayônara-Pâtî no Emu-Shî
Yudai Ishiyama	...	Giruba no Hama (Hama the Jitterbug)
Maiko Itô
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Keiko Kishikawa
Goro Kataoka	...	Burusu no Jô
Angelique Midthunder	...	Dansâ (as Angelique Roehm)
Shûichirô Moriyama	...	Ryo Kishikawa
Masahiro Motoki	...	Hiromasa Kimoto
Ren Ôsugi	...	Sugiuwa, the Floor Manager
Angélique Roehm	...	Dansâ
Misa Shimizu	...	Natsuko
Hideo Tanaka	...	Tokihiko Okada
Yôko Tanaka	...	Yôko Kishikawa
Paradise Yamamoto	...	Band Leader

Directed by
Masayuki Suo

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Masayuki Suo		writer

Produced by
Yoichi Arishige	....	associate producer
Kazuhiro Igarashi	....	producer
Tetsuya Ikeda	....	chief producer
Hiroyuki Kato	....	producer
Shôji Masui	....	producer
Shigeo Minakami	....	assistant producer
Yuji Ogata	....	producer
Shigeru Ohno	....	producer
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	executive producer
Yasuharu Urushido	....	producer

Original Music by
Yoshikazu Suo

Cinematography by
Naoki Kayano

Film Editing by
Junichi Kikuchi

Casting by
Tetsu Maeda

Production Design by
Kyôko Heya

Set Decoration by
Yoshihito Akatsuka

Makeup Department
Mikiko Hayama	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Yoshino Sasaki	....	production manager
Masamitsu Washizu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gen Yamakawa	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Kiyoshi Yoneyama	....	sound editor
Kiyoshi Yoneyama	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Tatsuya Osada	....	lighting director

Editorial Department
Bruce Kitzmeyer	....	conforming editor

Other crew
Howard Smith	....	operator: remote head
Toshihisa Watai	....	production coordinator
Toshio Watari	....	choreographer

Production Companies

• Altamira Pictures Inc.
• Daiei Studios (as Daiei Kabushiki-Gaisha)
• Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) (as Nippon Telebi-housou Kabushiki-Gaisha)
• Hakuhodo (as Kabushiki-Gaisha Hakuhodo)
• Nihon Shuppan Hanbai (as Nihon Shuppan Hanbai Kabushiki-Gaisha)

Distributors

• Toho Company (1996) (Japan) (theatrical) (as Toho)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Buena Vista International (Sweden) (1998) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International Finland (1998) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International Spain (1998) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (1999) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• EDKO Film (199?) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Filmes Lusomundo (1998) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Miramax Films (1997) (USA) (theatrical) (cut version)
• RCV Film Distribution (199?) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (199?) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1998) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Scotia International Filmverleih (1999) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (2001) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (1998) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Gativideo (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD) (cut version)
• New Films International (1997) (USA) (all media) (cut version)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production

Also Known As:

Shall We Dance? (UK) (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild language.

Runtime:

136 min | 119 min (cut version)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Japan:U | Iceland:L | Italy:T | 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:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Blackpool, Lancashire, England, UK

Company:

Altamira Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

In the first scene, a man's shoe in close-up plunges into a black pool in the street. This symbolizes the world renowned Ballroom Dancing Competition in Blackpool, England, referenced later in the film.

Quotes:

Tamako Tamura: Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.

Movie Connections:

Features Follow Me! (1972)

Soundtrack:

Shall We Dance

Ordinary yet extraordinary. Simply beautiful.

Watched this last night and was bowled over by the heartfelt story line, the excellent character development, and the good karmic vibe emanating from the acting and movie as a whole.

Without giving away too much of the plot, it begins with an ordinary joe who commutes to his office job every day who becomes inspired to take dance lessons. Along the way the protagonist and the assorted characters he meets in his quest to be smooth on the dance floor learn lessons about others and about themselves.

The story has a prologue about what dancing in Japan symbolizes sociologically, so it isn't exactly as simple to learn to dance in Japan as it is here in the U.S.

The film is lighthearted; you'll laugh out loud at some of the sight gags. Yet it is also dignified in a way hard to describe. All of the film's characters are taken seriously, as they are, and none are diminished because of their "imperfections."

I've been thinking about taking social dance classes with some friends. It just so happened a friend lent me the video on learning to dance. Is this synchronous or what? I think so because now I'm really geeked to give it a try.

Watch this wonderful family film (small children might not get it, but teens certainly would) and smile at the genuine caring you see shown in it time and again.

Why they would make a remake of Shall We Dance is a mystery, as it is perfect as-is.