Shall We Dance? (1997) Review

It looks as though the influence of Baz Luhrmann`s Strictly Ballroom has spread to Japan, where Shall We Dance?, an amiable romantic comedy about an office worker who takes up ballroom dancing, was a box-office sensation a couple of years back. Sugiyama lives in the suburbs with his wife and daughter and commutes by train to the city. During one of his daily trips he sees, from the train window, a vision of a beautiful woman standing at the upstairs window of a dance academy - this leads him to a tentative journey of discovery - he signs up for dance classes. His wife thinks he`s having an affair; actually, he`s having the time of his life... Masayuki Suo`s very amiable and charming film is a crowd pleaser, partly because there`s so much enjoyment to be derived from the clutch of colourful characters involved. Outstanding among them is Tomio, another office worker, who transforms himself on the dancefloor by donning a Beatles` wig. This is another foreign language film which the American company, Miramax has re-edited - the version seen here has been shortened by nearly 20 minutes. Maybe the original tied up some of the loose ends more neatly, but in any event Shall We Dance? is a delightful film, beautifully acted, and filled with pleasant surprises.