Showbits

There are few ways I'd rather spend a Saturday night than dancing. So it seemed apt when one of my dance partners recommended the film Shall We Dance?, though she favored the 1997 Japanese original, not the 2004 American remake starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon. Either story is that of an accountant whose spark for life is little more than an ember, fizzled under the weight of a wife, kid, and mortgage. But a chance encounter is about to ignite the fire in his heart and soles.

Mr. Sugiyama's subway ride home every day brings him past a dance studio, where he sees a forlorn instructor gazing out the window. Enraptured by this Juliet, he signs up for dancing lessons. But he does so secretly, without letting his family or workplace know — for as the prologue states, "Ballroom dancing is regarded with great suspicion in a country where couples don't go out hand in hand, or say 'I love you.'" What happens next is not as simple as a mid-life crisis culminating in an affair, but is about two lonely people who discover their love for dancing and life through, not in, each other. As Roger Ebert stated: "Shall We Dance? is not about love with a tantalizing mirage, then, but about a man losing his inhibitions and breaking out of the rut of his life."

In that regard, the film immediately brought to mind one of my favorite films, Lost in Translation — at first only superficially, based on the setting, but then more substantively, in the parallel desolation each film's starring couple must overcome. Lost in Translation is one of my all-time favorite films, as the sense of alienation the main characters feel is palatable and empathetic. Yet many people have found it to be a real snorefest; I expect that same audience would find little to capture their attention in Shall We Dance?. (Both films have scored at least 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.)

Admittedly, Shall We Dance? is a somewhat slow film, and several extended dance scenes could've been shortened. It could've been worse, though, as 18 minutes were cut from the Japanese version for the American release. These scenes are not restored to the DVD as an optional bonus feature.

What's left is a fun story filled with quirky yet likable characters. The unlikely misfits that compose the dance studio reminded me of the ensemble of Richard Dreyfuss' Let It Ride, in that everyone's happiness seems to depend on one person's. Their threads culminate in an ending that had me smiling… and if you think about how often that happens, you'll realize it's a rare film that has that effect.

I'd never seen Saturday Night Fever before this, the 30th anniversary of the film. But when a friend 52 years my senior was stunned at this gaping hole in my cinematic education, she insisted on filling it for me and one of my peers.

I now see how vital it is to have knowledge of this film; spoofs such as Airplane! suddenly make so much more sense! Regardless of our respective ages, we laughed at the symbols of the Seventies: the clothing, the language, the family dynamics.

At least at first. What I thought was a film about a disco competition proved to have far more depth than Bring It On or Drumline. I'm not familiar enough with Fever's era for the film to strike a nostalgic chord, but I can imagine how it might capture the aspirations of that generation, the changing gender roles, and religious obligations. That latter aspect was of the most interest to me; though I would've liked to see more of Father Frank Jr., they effectively summarized his position and decisions in the world and his family. His older brother's story was, again, more nuanced than I expected; it reminded me mostly of Catcher in the Rye. The choreography was a work of art as well. But I think I'll pass on the sequel, Staying Alive.

In a tale right out of Street Smart, Fever is based on a magazine article that was revealed 20 years later to have been fabricated. Its author, a Brit, found the American disco scene incomprehensible, and so created his own story. I wonder what value or meaning the ensuing movie adaptation has for an international audience? Does it too baffle them?