
DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710170069

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Movie Review 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

FOREIGN FILM OOZES CHARM, LACKS DEPTH

ALL THE WORLD is a dance floor. You only need to stop being an onlooker and get out there and try.

This is the message of the simplistic and charming ``Shall We Dance?'' which depicts the loosening up of an uptight, middle-aged Tokyo businessman who stumbles into a ballroom-dancing school. Its title might just as well be ``Shall We Live?''

It was a huge hit in Japan. Miramax, its American distributor, has faithfully promoted it as this year's ``crossover'' foreign-language film. But it has more charm than depth and, given its advance build up, is surprisingly lacking in cultural or character insight. We would have liked to have learned more about the apparently stifled society that views ballroom dancing as a kind of secret embarrassment - a secret to be kept from wife and business acquaintances.

To extol what we do have rather than what might have been, this is a pleasant diversion which becomes genuinely touching when Koji Yakusho, the restrained businessman, finally dons a tux and gets out there to achieve a genuine life-choice by entering an amateur competition. Rarely are middle-aged characters treated at all in film, much less a middle-aged crisis.

Directed and written by Masayuki Suo, the film need not have been quite so simple in its manipulation and broadly stated philosophizing. For example, a mishap on the dance floor brings the music and the contest to a complete stop to emphasize the disaster. Wouldn't the other couples have continued dancing?

And then, there is a persistent, and overly obvious effort to parallel ballroom dancing and sexual freedom. A teacher emphasizes that ``the first step is so important.'' A portly student observes that ``it takes the man three times longer to learn.'' And, in one of the more embarrassingly simple declarations, someone points out that ``dance begins with a dancer's feelings.''

Introducing a hint of physical danger to the ``sport'' is a needless touch of melodrama. In not one but two flashbacks, we are shown couples who actually suffer injuries on the dance floor. It seems a bit much.

Tamiyo Kusakari, the leading lady, has all-too-obvious ballet training. The fact that she moves like a classical ballerina belies her believability as a ballroom-dance teacher. She is an exquisite, majestic creature whom we would love to see in ballet, but dance-wise she's obviously slumming here. The dance itself ranges from the laughably bad to good - none outstanding.

But when ``Shall We Dance?'' shows us rather than tells us, it is a charmer that reaches the level of poignancy in the need for its everyday folk to find a means of expression. In a movie year in which few films have dealt with everyday folks, this entry from Japan is a find. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MIRAMAX

Stars of Masayuki Suo's ``Shall We Dance'' do just that in a scene

from the popular Japanese movie.

Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW

``Shall We Dance?''

Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka

Director and Writer: Masayuki Suo

MPAA rating: PG (little that's objectionable)

Mal's rating: two and 1/2 stars