Shall We Dance?

Shown: 27 September 1999

Japan 1996 (subtitles)
Directed by Masayuki Suo
Leading players - Koji Yakkusho, Tamiyo Kusakari and Naoto Takenaka

Synopsis

Physical contact in public is frowned upon in Japan and so the act of placing your hand in that of another in response to the query "Shall We Dance?" is regarded as risqué.

Commuting between his office and his mortgaged home, businessman Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) is intrigued by tantalising glimpses of a lone woman Mai (Tamiyo Kasukari) standing in the lighted window of a dance studio. Shohei leaves his train and enrols for lessons. He is a natural and his wife wonders at the change in her formerly morose husband.

A film rich in gentle humour which traces the joys of breaking free from the constraints of society and giving life a whirl.

Shall We Dance? is a multi-award winner and has become one of the most successful foreign language films ever made.