just watch it!

hyped garbage

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

I believe I have seen this film three times. And every time I see it it does not fail to dazzle me. The acting is so superb, hitting all the right notes, getting the tone perfect. Each character in this film is just so divine. I highly recommend this to anyone to watch. It would be something good for all ages.The American remake with Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez is OK. However, that film takes a total different approach. The tone is very, very different. I am not dismissing the America version. However, a true film goer and lover needs to see the original version to really appreciate this remarkable, moving and terrific story.

A Japanese salaryman (Koji Yakusho) feeling jaded by work and bored with his family life, joins a ballroom dancing class.Shall We Dance? is a delightful comedy, dealing with a modest, humble man's search for exuberance, spontaneity and passion in a life he finds restrained and crushing. It has a sweetness that is remarkably unforced. The film performed strongly in American theaters earning roughly $9.7 million during its US release. At the Japanese Academy Awards it won 14 awards, every award it was eligible to win. A disastrous American remake, starring Richard Gere, was released in 2004.

This is the original Shall We Dansu, a Japanese film that takes a look at the society around it and the shameful act of dancing. It is considered out of the society's norms to dance, whether it is in a studio or at home, especially ballroom dancing. This is exactly what the main character Shohei Sugiyama is looking for to break from his mundane life. While the topic of the film is better understood with the knowledge of Japanese culture it is still hilarious to watch while still maintaining its heart-felt plot.Shall We Dansu has a very serious plot of a man trying to break from his daily routine, but also adds in a slew of comedy through gags and dialog. Some scenes are laugh out loud while others just give a chuckle to break up tension. However, this is a very funny film with a very interesting story line.The one thing to be aware of is that this is the original Japanese version. There has been a more recent Hollywood version that falls very short in comparison. The Hollywood version was a flop and took an amazing movie and turned it into a pointless waste of time. Do not see the remake; instead look at this original film, which is able to captivate humor and drama all in the same moment.The most important thing to understand about this film is that in this Japanese society it is taboo to dance. If you try to place this film outside of that context, like how the remake attempted, it loses everything that makes this film worth seeing. While analyzing society, and the norms of that society, Shall We Dansu is a captivating experience that mixes humor with drama to allow for an entertaining film experience.

A middle-aged man keeps seeing the same lady at a dance studio across from the train tracks where he commutes to and from work. She's rather pretty, but there is something else about her that gets his attention. One day, drawn by his curiosity, he stumbles (literally) into the dance studio and reluctantly signs up for classes--not realizing he'll become hooked.This is a very unusual film that deals with a very mundane subject so well that I felt sucked into the film and really cared about the people--even though it is just about ballroom dancing. I am not a dancer and frankly I avoided this film because it just sounded so dull. The plot is simple--so simple you wonder how the film could be this good. Of course there's more to it than that, but not a lot. But the wonderful mood and the great writing made me really care about the people so much that I found myself cheering them on or laughing many times during the film. I particularly loved Mr. Aoki--the guy with the crazy wig and very outrageous dance style--though I really found myself caring about them all (even the nasty pudgy lady). Any film that pulls so much out of such a simple setting is a terrific film and well worth your time.