Shall We Dance? (30th Anniversary)
A modern Japanese classic about an office worker who becomes fascinated by ballroom dancing. A heart-warming and funny film about communication, intimacy and the courage it takes to embrace change in your life.
On the train home, 42-year-old Shohei sees a woman looking sadly out of the window of a dance school. When this intriguing sight repeats itself over several evenings, Shohei decides to get off the train and enrol in dance classes. Given that public displays of affection towards one’s partner are already taboo in Japanese culture, this step feels like visiting a brothel. Shohei therefore keeps his new hobby a secret from his family, but gradually the depressed ‘salaryman’ (the Japanese term for a white-collar office worker) and his equally shy fellow students overcome their personal crises through dance.
Shall We Dance? was released in Japan thirty years ago and, within a few years, became a global arthouse hit. Ballroom dancing subsequently became a much more widely accepted hobby in Japan as a means of personal growth, without the social or romantic context associated with it in the West.
Written by MDV