Shall We Dance? (1996)

Dir. Masayuki Suo – 1996 – 137m – Japan – In Japanese with English subtitles – Valid for Punch Cards

Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) seems to have it all — a high-paying job as an accountant, a beautiful home, a caring wife and a doting daughter he loves dearly. However, he feels something is missing in his life. One day while commuting on the train he spots a beautiful woman staring wistfully out a window and eventually decides to find her. His search leads him head-first into the world of competitive ballroom dancing.

An “infinitely touching” (The Washington Post) modern classic from director Masayuki Suo, Shall We Dance? is a feel-good romantic comedy that “will sweep you off your feet” (The Austin Chronicle). A box-office sensation in North America upon its initial release (which led to a Hollywood remake with Richard Gere), Film Movement Classics presents Shall We Dance? in a new 4K restoration of the original, 136-minute film, available uncut for the first time in North America.

“[O]ne of the more completely entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while–a well-crafted character study that, like a Hollywood movie with a skillful script, manipulates us but makes us like it.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“Like the breathtaking number from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical The King and I, from which the film takes both its title and inspiration, Shall We Dance? will sweep you off your feet.” – Austin Chronicle

“Funny and poignant, this is entertainment in it’s kindest and swishiest form.” – Empire Magazine

“The movie has a great deal of zest and charm, and Yakusho gets so exactly that crest of melancholy that is a man’s early 40s, until he decides to go for another kind of life, that the movie is infinitely touching.” – Washington Post

“[A]n amazingly moving performance by Koji Yakusho.” – Slate Magazine

“This charming comedy uses dance as a metaphor for individual expression, risk-taking and intellectual flight.” – New York Daily News