Shall We Dance Movie Review Sample

The movie analyzed is titled ‘Shall We Dance?” (Sharu wi Dansu? in Japanese). The objective of the analysis is to explore the how social and work related stress as well as the lack of happiness may lead to infidelity in marriage. The movie is a romantic piece in which a jaded, exploited accountant, Shohei Sugiyama, decides to join a ballroom dancing classes. It is based on 1960s Japanese culture where the society expected the woman to be housewife while the men fetch for the families. The decision by Shohei Sugiyama, however, was not informed by the need to deal with the boring life and work overload but because he sighted a beautiful woman who happened to be a dance instructor.
Shohei Sugiyama is presented as a man who has a very good job, with a charming wife Masako Sugiyama and a daughter, and a good family. However, he was not satisfied with all these. From work, every day as he walks to and from the office, inwardly, he felt there was something amiss. Every day as he walked home, he could spot a beautiful woman gaze at him through the ballroom dance window room. The gazes from the lady led to mental anguish. One day as he rode home, he jumped off the train midway and registered for the classes, with the hope of meeting the likeable lady. Nevertheless, he realized that the lady was not the instructor; an old is the main teacher. Further upon meeting Mai Kishikawa, the charming lady, the; lady tells him blatantly to be serious with the lessons. With time, Shohei Sugiyama fell in love with the dance and attended a competition in Chicago. The skills displayed by Shohei Sugiyama led to a blossoming friendship with Mai Kishikawa and suspicion from the wife. The wife would ask ‘are you OK?” This made wife, Masako Sugiyama, to hire a private investigator to look into the secret behaviors of the husband.
In the film, I find the aspect of human happiness as the most important aspect of the movie. Shohei Sugiyama felt bored with the office work while his colleague, Stanley Tucci enjoyed himself in the evenings at the dance classes. The case of Shohei Sugiyama shows that the society needs to help the members feel happy and enjoy their social life. It is however very interesting to see Shohei Sugiyama’s divided motive and loyalty in the dance hall. While it would be of interest to attend the classes with the intent of acquiring dancing skills, the action of Shohei Sugiyama to meet the woman as the primary objective is very unusual.
However, I disliked the evident infidelity of Shohei Sugiyama. It is dehumanizing to leave a beautiful wife at home, lonely, while the husband enjoys self with another woman. While dancing is not bad the action of Shohei Sugiyama in the dance floor such as the contact between their genitals is an act of unfaithfulness. Further, Mai Kishikawa said, “the rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish; you have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living”. This demonstrates the real intention of the dancers- to engage in sexual activity.
Summarily, I feel that the movie has good cinematic features, such as the beautiful costumes, the theme and characters. The movie seeks to inspire people to follow their dreams at all cost. However, in seeking human happiness and pursuit of a dream, the other marriage partner should be part of it. The conventional movie thus offers genuine insights of the 1960s Japanese town life, work ethics, family relationships and social life.