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Edinburgh University
Film Society 47 Years of Student Run Cinema 1963-2010 Student Film Society of the Year 2002, 2005, 2006 |
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Masayuki Suo, Japan 1996, 118mins
Shall We Dance choreographs the hesitant steps of a shy Japanese accountant who takes ballroom dance lessons to ease the monotony of his life. With deft characterization and agile camera work it showcases a talented cast.
Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) works hard at a dreary nine to five job. His endless commute contains one bright spot, the glimpse of a beautiful woman staring out of the window of a dancing school.
Motivated by curiosity as well as lust, he impulsively hops off the subway one evening and signs up for dance lessons. Ashamed to tell others about his unmanly aspirations, he keeps the lessons a secret. Ballroom dancing once had a somewhat bad aura about it - it was a place where men went for more than dancing. While this is no longer true, no one exactly advertises the fact he is attending a ballroom studio to learn to dance. After checking that no one he knows has seen him, Shohei enters the dance hall.
Sugiyama meets the mysterious beauty, Mai (Tamiyo Kusakari), who has been cut off by her father after she stumbled and lost an international dance competition, turning to teaching to support herself. She keeps her distance with an aloofness that matches her lithe elegance on the dance floor.
The art of dance soon enchants Sugiyama more than Mai's beauty. He practices the steps of the mamba on the beach, in the restroom, even at work, with his feet tapping underneath his desk.
His talent does not go unnoticed at the dance studio: soon he is partnered with Toyoko, an aging dance instructor who has difficulty keeping partners because of her caustic comments. The duo enter an amateur dance competition with surprising results.
Yakusho, brilliantly transforms his character from shlumpy accountant to debonair dancer. In a difficult role where he rarely speaks, he relies on body language to convey the surge in confidence dancing gives him. Toyoko adds a touch of comic relief as the overbearing yet vulnerable dance partner.
This film deserves a standing ovation for its tender examination of Sugiyamo's fascination with dancing, and inspires an urge to start waltzing across the floor. Thumbs up!
Stephane Mikaty
EUFS Programme 1998-99