SHALL WE DANCE? Movie Review
Shall We Dansu?
A sense of deja vu isn't uncommon at the movies, but there was something weirdly familiar about the Japanese sleeper hit Shall We Dance? that kept tugging at my sleeve as it rolled innocuously on. The obvious suspects popped into my head: Strictly Ballroom? Yes, but that's obvious. Saturday Night Fever? Well, sure—Sensei Night Fever, perhaps—though the hero, Mr. Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho), never becomes a master a la John Travolta. No, there was something else about this story of an overachieving businessman whose original goal in signing up for dance lessons was to inflate his own ego by getting next to an attractive dancing teacher (Tamiyo Kusakari), but who ends up going beyond such selfish concerns and learns the joy of this new sport and the value of teamwork by working together with a bunch of lovable misfits and…of course! I knew where I'd seen this before! It was The Mighty Ducks!. And D2: The Mighty Ducks II and D3: The Mighty Ducks and The Big Green and Little Giants and every other kids’ sports movie about lovable, goofy misfits who come from behind and give up their individual hot-dogging to connect spiritually with team values, thanks to the patience of a well-meaning though personally troubled coach (or sensei) who ends up learning just as much as the kids. More! There's always one goofball class clown who ends up a hero (Naoto Takenaka), one fat kid who everyone roots for in gratuitous reaction shots during the triumphant finish (Hiromasa Taguchi), and an older, wiser teacher (Reiko Kasamura) whose pure joy in the sport is eventually grasped by the younger, life's-dealt-me-unfair-blows coach (Kusakari). And, of course, the hero, who learns that with teamwork—coupled with the art of being a strong leader—comes true victory. Shall We Dance? comes complete with several rousing “training” montages set to peppy pop songs—a staple of kids’ sports movies—to get everyone ready for the big competition. The football, baseball, soccer, and hockey versions of this come-from-behind fable seem to be enjoyed over and over again by kids, and more power to them. Once I realized what I was seeing, it was just a matter of waiting—and waiting—for the inevitable lesson to be learned, though you might find the going more pleasurable than I did. The performances are this movie's saving grace, and they're wonderful (Kusakari is completely charming).To give the picture its due, when was the last time you saw a movie that featured both Rodgers and Hammerstein and The Drifters? If you have to have musical montages, at least that's going in style.
NEXT STOP … Strictly Ballroom, Footloose, Cold Fever
1997 118m/C JP Koji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka, Akira Emoto, Eriko Watanabe, Yu Tokui, Hiromasa Taguchi; D: Masayuki Suo; W: Masayuki Suo; C: Naoke Kayano; M: Yoshikazu Suo. National Board of Review Awards ‘97: Best Foreign Film; Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards ‘97: Best Foreign Film. VHS, LV, Closed Caption TOU