as feel - good formulaic as it may be in its own way , shall we dance ? also demonstrates a kind of charming restraint you do n't often find in american films .
this japanese import tells the story of a middle - aged accountant named sugiyama ( koji yakusho ) whose mundane life is shaken up one night when he spots beautiful mai kishikawa ( tamiyo kusakari ) in the window of a dance school .
intrigued by her melancholy demeanor ( and slightly infatuated with her ) , sugiyama signs up for weekly classes at the school -- and , much to his amazement , ends up as attracted to dancing itself as to his young sensei .
meanwhile , sugiyama 's wife ( hideko hara ) becomes suspicious of his late wednesday nights , and sets a private detective on her husband 's trail .
in a hollywood film , you can bet that sub - plot would be turned into a stream of slapstick comedy and crazy misunderstandings .
in shall we dance ? , writer / director masayuki suo dispenses with it in a matter of minutes , using it to set up later character interactions rather than letting it overwhelm the story with pratfalls .
neither does he make the climactic moment of victory a competition between the hero and some mean - spirited token rival .
suo gives his comedy the graceful movements of his subject matter , allowing the humor to flow from the characters rather than forcing it upon them .
an opening prologue in
shall we dance ?
goes to some effort to place the film in a sociological perspective , explaining how contrary ballroom dancing is to the japanese sense of propriety .
it 's a forced message in a story which does n't need such a culture - specific angle .
the dance school in
shall we dance ?
plays the role of a singles ' mixer , with everyone vaguely embarrassed to be there yet taking the opportunity to try on new personalities .
most amusing among these new personalities is the one adopted by sugiyama 's co - worker mr .
aoki ( naoto takenaka ) , a balding systems analyst who becomes a fiery latin lover when he dons a frizzy wig and begins to rumba .
sugiyama 's awakening is less overt , but koji yakusho does a wonderful job showing a transformation of small steps .
it 's a delicate performance with a huge heart .
shall we dance ?
is a fairly lightweight experience , which makes its final half hour rather a long sit .
suo crams a lot of exposition into very little time , including an unnecessarily detailed back - story for mai , resulting in a sluggish march towards the resolution .
it is here that shall we dance ?
feels most hollywood - conventional , attempting to blind - side the audience with a truckload of emotional catharsis .
suo might have been better advised to conclude with the small gem of a scene in which sugiyama and his wife take their first tentative dance steps together .
that 's the real joy of dance
shall we dance ?
conveys :
its ability to create an intoxicating mood of romance which can soften the stiffest shirt .
the graceful movements of his subject matter , allowing the humor to flow from the characters rather than forcing it upon them the small gem of a scene a kind of charming restraint does a wonderful job its ability to create an intoxicating mood of romance which can soften the stiffest shirt a delicate performance with a huge heart