Shall We Dance? (1996)
A middle-aged workaholic's incredibly dull life takes a funny turn when he signs up for a ballroom dance class -- just to meet the sexy dance teacher. But when he finally muscles up the nerve for lessons he winds up with a different instructor and her colorfully eccentric class of beginners! And now he'll have to step lightly -- and do some fancy footwork -- if he expects to keep his new secret passion from his family and friends! (Miramax)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Masayuki Suo
Written By: Masayuki Suo
Starring: Naoto Takenaka, Kôji Yakusho, Hiromasa Taguchi, Yu Tokui, Eri Watanabe, Hideko Hara, Reiko Kusamura, Tamiyo Kusakari
AKA: Shall we dansu?
Country: Japan
Where to Stream
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Shall We Dance? belongs to 23 collections
1. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)
2. Kinema Junpo 200 Greatest Japanese films (2009 list) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 17 stars)
3. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)
4. Dance (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 10 stars)
5. Film Titles That Are Complete Sentences (collaborative: moderated by MacSwell - 7 stars)
6. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)
7. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
8. Available on YouTube (collaborative: moderated by utube-cinema - 5 stars)
9. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)
10. Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 4 stars)
11. Great Japanese Films (collaborative: moderated by PerryStroika - 4 stars)
12. Remade (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - 4 stars)
13. Japanese Academy Prize: Best Film (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 3 stars)
14. Japanese director (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 3 stars)
15. Coheed's Films I Need To See Or Try To Track Down (public: Coheed - 3 stars)
16. Foreign Language Films subtitled on Youtube (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx - 2 stars)
17. Title Based On Song Name (collaborative: moderated by iceblox - 1 star)
18. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)
19. Doubling the Canon (2012 update) (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 1 star)
20. Supporting performance stole the show (or nearly did). (collaborative: moderated by MzeeShikamu)
21. Foreign - Japanese (public: NhanLa)
22. Movies to screen (public: PerryStroika)
23. Films Dunstan Owns (public: Dunstan-xxx)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| Nov 22, 2021 |  |
drtfx7 | 70 64th |
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Rediscovering love while in a mid-life crisis as a salaryman in socially repressed culture is the essence of 'Shall We Dance?'. The 'love' presented here is not external but the love one needs to give themselves to enjoy life to the fullest.
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| Aug 06, 2021 |  |
metis | 75 59th |
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8??????/??????????????????/????"Lascia L'ultimo Ballo Per Me"??????
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| Apr 28, 2021 |  |
glumpy_99 | 83 67th |
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Warm hearted crowd-pleaser is an utter charmer, echoing STRICTLY BALLROOM in its presentation of the highly restrictive, even oppressive world of ballroom dancing as an ultimate key to liberation and self-fulfilment, and who can possibly resist that message! Overlength exacerbated by a tendency to follow too many melodramatic plot diversions is a minor quibble in the balance of the good feelings; the cast's sincere performances help to guide the film through its sometimes rocky screenplay.
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| Oct 06, 2017 |  |
Sweekoden | 82 83rd |
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It's staggering how much better the cinematography and shot selection is in this compared to the very good Sumo Do Sumo Don't. Takenaka, the comedic highlight of that film, is even better here in the role that was the progenitor to his Stresemann persona. But then there's the issue of the protagonist being an adulterous stalker. Could've been cool had things gone Vertigo, but a pretty unsympathetic way for him to find a neat hobby. Kusakari not being an actress is shocking; perfect performance.
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| Feb 03, 2015 |  |
Feraud | 87 86th |
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Fantastic! Inspiring!
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| Sep 02, 2012 |  |
stevekimes | 85 73rd |
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An utterly charming romantic comedy with a shy male lead. Wonderful.
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| Jul 01, 2012 |  |
hotsake | 92 99th |
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A simple elegant film beautifully told. By the end of the film I felt as if I actually knew and was, if not friends with, at least part of their group. Totally believable with marvelous acting from one and all involved.
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| Aug 17, 2011 |  |
PerryStroika | 75 93rd |
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Rather resembles one of those martial arts "training flicks" where the hero spends the whole movie practising and practicing, finally achieving his goal in the last scene. Achieves a very particularly Japanese warmth and purity of tone.
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| Jul 09, 2011 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 82 67th |
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When it's about the dancing and the people who dance it's rather enjoyable film with a wry sense of humour and time passes pretty quickly. Thankfully this is most of the film. There are some melodramatic aspects scattered throughout that felt tedious and tacked on, and those dragged things down a bit.
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| Oct 10, 2010 |  |
hellboy76 | 70 79th |
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Surprisingly entertaining for the subject matter.
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| Sep 09, 2009 | AzurEclipse | 72 91st |
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Found how he must keep his passion for dancing a secret amusing. Almost like it was a taboo mistress.
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| Jun 14, 2009 |  |
whatismyname | 75 88th |
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Many of the same faces from the other funny film by Masayuki Suo, Shiko Funjatta. It's just one of those films that look so enjoyable to be an actor in; an engaging story, beautiful character development, it's got everything.
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| Apr 22, 2008 |  |
Jarmann | 82 76th |
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Watch this one instead of the terrible Richard Gere-remake. In this Japanese cultural setting, the whole dance-thing actually makes sense.
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| Aug 14, 2007 | mdenuzzio | 70 52nd |
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Good date flick
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| Aug 14, 2007 |  |
Vince Leo (Qwipster's Movie Reviews) | 80 86th |
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One of the characters in the film stated that she fell in love with dancing the moment she saw Yul Brenner in The King and I (a song from which the movie derives its title), and I would guess that Suo's rich study in the art of dance will be the inspiration for countless more. [Full Review]
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| Average Percentile 61% from 349 Ratings |  |