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Shall We Dance?

Play trailer Poster for Shall We Dance? PG Released Oct 15, 1996 2h 15m Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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90% Tomatometer 52 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Successful middle-aged accountant Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) has a loving wife (Hideko Hara) and a beautiful daughter, but for some reason feels unfulfilled with his life. One night, while riding his commuter train home, Sugiyama spies a beautiful woman, Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari), dancing in a window. Entranced by her beauty, Sugiyama tracks the woman to her dance studio and signs up for ballroom dance lessons in hopes of reinvigorating his mundane existence.
Shall We Dance?

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Critics Consensus

Elegantly told by director Masayuki Suo and warmly performed, Shall We Dance? is a delightful celebration of stepping out of one's comfort zone and cutting a rug.

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Critics Reviews

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Terry Lawson Detroit Free Press If Shall We Dance? is as simplified as one of those color-coded mats that show you exactly where to plant your feet in a proper fox trot, it is also sweetly entertaining and sincere. Rated: 3/4 Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Jami Bernard New York Daily News This charming comedy uses dance as a metaphor for individual expression, risk-taking and intellectual flight. Rated: 3/4 Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune The movie works on several levels, so if viewers don't understand the social commentary, there's still an amusing story with intriguing characters. Rated: 4/5 Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Dennis King Tulsa World A treasure of humor and heartbreak that transcends cultural boundaries. While its sentimental rhythms sometimes move too close to the cloying, it still manages to lift our hearts and set our toes to tapping. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Joe Baltake Fresno Bee What's more rousing here is the notion of a life awakened -- the rewarding sight of a mediocre man blossoming and becoming confident. Rated: B Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Dan Webster Spokesman-Review (Washington) The lesson has to do with resolving the lure of a dream and coming to an acceptance of real life. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 10, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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coronavirus k demon blood rise and the usa falls in the tale Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/13/24 Full Review Audience Member The most beautiful movie I've seen in a long time. Simply wonderful. Sightly hilarious that from Japan the mecca to which they aspire is Blackpool, but also it is true...or was. An absolute must see. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the most charming and entertaining films I've seen in a long time... I cared a lot about the characters and they seemed real and not contrived....a classic Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a Japanese film classic. One of the best films I have ever seen. Koji Yakusho and Tamiyo Kusakari are amazing. it is a charming and funny film. Forget the Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez remake. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Absolutely wonderful movie! Funny, quiet, beautiful! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Japanese language with subtitles A warm story about an unptight and dutiful 40 something middle management accountant who is finding that his dream of having his own house, pretty wife and young daughter is not turning out to be as fulfilling as he thought it was going to be. As he commutes from his dreary job once more, he glances from the train up to a dance studio opposite one of the train stops and sees a beautiful but melancholic woman staring out the dance room window. Eventually he plucks up the courage to get off the train and make his way to the studio. His initial plan was to meet and maybe even have a relationship with the mysterious dancer. But to do so, he has to enroll in the dance class. Quite quickly he realises that dancing makes him happier and more alive. But keeps it secret from his wife. It seems that in Japan, dancing with someone other than your wife is considered slightly pervy and shameful. His wife soon notices the difference in demeanour and suspects an affair - but in a way his enjoyment of dancing is worse than a physical affair and she feels left out and isolated. It's a gentle film about searching for a more fulfilled life - for some its ballroom dancing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Shall We Dance?

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Shall We Dance?

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Movie Info

Synopsis Successful middle-aged accountant Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) has a loving wife (Hideko Hara) and a beautiful daughter, but for some reason feels unfulfilled with his life. One night, while riding his commuter train home, Sugiyama spies a beautiful woman, Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari), dancing in a window. Entranced by her beauty, Sugiyama tracks the woman to her dance studio and signs up for ballroom dance lessons in hopes of reinvigorating his mundane existence.
Director
Masayuko Suo
Producer
Shoji Masui, Yûji Ogata
Screenwriter
Masayuko Suo
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Miramax
Rating
PG
Genre
Romance
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 15, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$9.7M
Runtime
2h 15m
Sound Mix
Surround