Shall We Dance?

Directed by Masayuki Suo
Film Movement Classics
1996
136 Minutes
Japan
Japanese
Romance, Comedy, Drama, Asian, Classics
Asian Studies
Not Rated
PPR $200.00
DRL $499.00
PPR+DRL $599.00

To submit an order, request a preview screener, or ask a question contact Erin Farrell

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.

Cast

  • Koji Yakusho
  • Tamiyo Kusakari
  • Naoto Takenaka
DVD Features

Discs: 1

  • Highest Rating
    "[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
  • Highest Rating
    "An implausibly charming comedy."
    Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
  • Highest Rating
    "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."
    Steve Davis, Austin Chronicle
  • Highest Rating
    "Funny and poignant, this is entertainment in it's kindest and swishiest form."
    Ian Freer, Empire Magazine
  • Highest Rating
    "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."
    Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
  • Highest Rating
    "[A]n amazingly moving performance by Koji Yakusho."
    Sarah Kerr, Slate Magazine
  • Highest Rating
    "Shall We Dance? combines the best elements of old-fashioned "gotta dance" romance with the courage it takes to overcome strict behavioral boundaries, both self-imposed and societal."
    Ann Hornaday, Austin American-Statesman
  • Highest Rating
    "Shall We Dance? proves to be that most impressive but illusive of accomplishments in film: a simple story told well."
    Sheila Simmons, Cleveland Plain Dealer
  • Highest Rating
    "You'll want to waltz on over to "Shall We Dance"."
    Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
  • Highest Rating
    "This charming comedy uses dance as a metaphor for individual expression, risk-taking and intellectual flight."
    Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
  • Highest Rating
    "Sweetly entertaining and sincere."
    Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
  • Highest Rating
    "Disarming and delightful...."
    Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Highest Rating
    "It's funny, self-deprecating and, for all of its two hours, totally absorbing."
    Chris Cobb, Ottawa Citizen
  • Highest Rating
    "Yakusho is elegant and endearingly restrained as Sugiyama. Naoto Takenaka is a comic standout as Aoki, the hilariously over-confident womanizing dancer. Reiko Kusamura is quietly charming as the elder dance instructor."
    Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews
  • Highest Rating
    "This irresistible Japanese film celebrates the spiritual uplift of boundless desire."
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice
  • Highest Rating
    "Masayuki Suo has written and directed Shall We Dance? with the grace, style and balance of a ballroom champion. Let him lead you across the floor."
    Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Gallery

Awards & Recognition

You May Also Like...