Moving to the Rhythm of ‘Dance’s’ Success

The warmhearted Japanese comedy “Shall We Dance?” has inspired several happy endings beyond its becoming one of the nation’s biggest homemade hits, with a take of more than $30 million. It’s brought international fame to its 40-year-old writer-director, Masayuki Suo, and social acceptance to a pastime long viewed with suspicion in Japan: ballroom dancing--which, partly because of the film, is now a national craze.

Koji Yakusho (“Ran”) stars as a burned-out, repressed businessman who becomes smitten with a young dance instructor, ballerina-turned-actress Tamiyo Kusakari--but he finds truer joy, and some familiar faces, in the ballroom dance class he secretly enrolls in.

Director Suo took a similar journey of discovery to write the film, exploring a society that frowns on public physical contact with the opposite sex. And like Yakusho’s character, his path took a surprise turn: Suo married his leading lady after the film wrapped. “Shall We Dance?” opens in Los Angeles Friday.

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Question: Many Japanese businessmen were leading almost double lives when it came to dancing. How did you find out about them?

Answer: I had wanted to make a film about middle-aged company workers, the so-called salary men. In Japan, they’re known as the most unhappy, least zestful section of the population. I wanted to encourage them, to give them something to feel happy about.

Then one day, exactly like my lead character, I was on a train; it stopped at a station, I looked up, and I saw the window of a ballroom dance class. I figured, if this character saw a beautiful woman in a ballroom dance window, he would want to dance with that woman.

To write the script, I did 25 hours of dance lessons over six months. And most of the episodes in the film came from my research. I’ve never had so much fun writing a script.

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Q: Like your hero, many people you met would never tell friends or loved ones about their dancing. Why?

A: Japanese people are really bad at enjoying themselves! They’re not skilled at doing the things they want to do. Japan is the kind of country where if you walk down the street with a smile on your face, people think that you’re boasting.

In my own case, I’ve had lots of wonderful things happen to me on account of this film, and I want to be really happy and rejoice--but it’s better that I look like something sad has happened to me, and I walk around looking miserable, otherwise people will complain!

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Q: Did the extent of the response surprise you?

A: Of course, but in a funny way, it was more that I was relieved. There are very few “mainstream” films like this in Japan; Japanese films are basically seen as dark and very serious. That’s why American films are so massively popular there. I wanted to put up a Japanese resistance to that, not to be outdone by an American film! And this made people remember that films can be fun.

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Q: The movie had another unexpected result: you married one of your stars. When did you realize your feelings were more than professional?

A: Basically not until the film was completed. Up to that point, it was entirely director and actress. It was the first time she’d acted. So I was just completely concerned whether she could do the job; that was all I could think about. It was only when I knew [her work] was OK that I began to relate to her on a personal basis.

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Q: Since then, you’ve seen the film with American audiences. . . .

A: (smiles) In Houston or Dallas, a middle-aged lady came up to me and said, “This is a film I’d like to show to all the dispirited middle-aged men throughout the world!”

The thing that makes me happiest is when people respond to it not as being a Japanese film or about Japanese culture, but as a film that moved them.

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Q: It’s rare to see a comedy with such strong emotions.

A: I was never making a comedy. If you’re going to show one person’s life, you’re going to show laughter as well as tears. I’m very drawn to laughter. So in my attempt to depict the ballroom dance world, because I’m drawn to the comic portions, it ends up being a comic film.

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Q: It also won all 13 awards it was up for, at the Japanese version of the Academy Awards. . . .

A: Personally, I’m delighted, but there’s a certain sense in which I felt it was a shame, that some other wonderful films were not recognized. Last year was a very good year for Japanese films.

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Q: “Shall We Dance?” is the story of two characters who totally change each other’s view of life . . . and it’s obviously changed yours.

A: The biggest change has been in the way I’m viewed in the Japanese film world. Film companies used to feel . . . “Yeah, his films are interesting, but they’ll never be a hit.” Now, I can go to a company and say, “I want to do this” . . . and they’re pretty sure to say yes.

And, of course, one very personal thing was, I never thought that I would get married. And probably if I was not married, I wouldn’t be making as many international phone calls as I am [from Los Angeles]!

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Q: So how’s your dancing?

A: (laughs) It’s a shame. There’s absolutely no chance for me to dance in my daily life. The only way for me is to see my wife dance!