Skip to main content
Shall We Dance film image; woman watches a couple ballroom dancing

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, something is missing in his life. One day on the commuter train he spots a beautiful woman staring wistfully out a window and eventually decides to find her. So far, so film noir. But in this story, his search propels him into the furtive world of… ballroom dancing.

“Dance is more than just the steps,” counsels a kindly teacher. “Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.” And Shohei does just that, finding a new lease of life in tripping the light fantastic.

Masayuki Suô’s delightful and charming film was a box office smash in Japan (second only to Godzilla that year) and in the USA, where Miramax cut it by 18 minutes. It won 14 Japanese Academy Awards: Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Lighting, Best Music Score, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Newcomer of the Year. A US remake followed with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez.

The film is presented here in a new restoration in its full 136-minute version.

Funny and poignant, this is entertainment in it’s kindest and swishiest form.

Ian Freer, Empire magazine

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

This disarming and delightful tale prescribes rumba replacement therapy for male menopause and has a tonic effect on the audience, too.

Carrie Rickie, Philadelphia Inquirer

 

Media Partner

Director

Masayuki Suô

Cast

Koji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka, Eri Watanabe, Yû Tokui, Hiromasa Taguchi

Credits
Country of Origin

Japan

Year

1996

Language

In Japanese with English subtitles

Awards

14 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film

19+
137 min

Book Tickets

Friday June 13

5:45 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Saturday June 14

3:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Sunday June 15

2:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Monday June 16

7:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Book Now

Credits

Screenwriter

Masayuki Suô

Cinematography

Naoki Kayano

Editor

Jun’ichi Kikuchi

Original Music

Yoshikazu Suo

Also in This Series

Japanese filmmaker Masayuki Suô excels in the art of comedy, putting out film after film filled with warmth and wit.

If you’ve never experienced a Suô film before, this is your chance. Explore three of Suô’s biggest and best, along with a special VIFF Live event you won’t want to miss.

Shall We Dance?

Dir. Masayuki Suô
137 min

Masayuki Suô's delightful and charming 1996 film was a box office smash and won 14 Japanese Academy Awards including Best Film. It's the story of a married salaryman who falls in love with... dance.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Fancy Dance

Dir. Masayuki Suô
101 min

Shall we meditate? Masayuki Suô's second film is a comedy about a punk rock star (Masahiro Motoki) who agrees to become a Buddhist monk for a year in order to inherit his family's lucrative temple.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Chen Baker Play J-Pop

Dir. Masayuki Suô
103 min

Jeffery's Chen Baker band is back (and bigger than ever) to present a set of city pop and jazzy J-pop by the likes of Miki Matsubara, Taeko Ohnuki, Lamp, before the screening of Masayuki Suô's hilarious underdog comedy Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992).

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Sumo Do, Sumo Don't

Dir. Masayuki Suô
103 min

This hilarious sports underdog story from the director of Shall We Dance won 5 Japan Academy Awards including Best Film, and was the inspiration for the recent Disney+ spin off series.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre