A Comparision Between Dance and Dansu

Originally a Japanese film that depicts the life of a busy man in a busy society that is unsatisfied with his life, Shall Weダンス captured the hearts and minds of millions of people upon its release in 1996. Not only was it popular in Japan, but it was also a big hit in America, leading to the development of an American version of the film, released in 2004. After watching, and loving, the Japanese version, I decided to dive into the American version with an open mind and see for myself if it can compare to Dansu. This is my critique of Dance, in particular. What worked? What didn’t, and why? And of course, Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere aren’t going to get away unscathed.
The best place to start is the acting.Dansu had hands down exceptional actors. From Koji Yakusho (Sugiyama) and Tamiyo Kusakari (Mai Sensei) to the “Fat Sweaty Man” and Sugiyama’s daughter, the acting was presented completely believable, and well portrayed. I wish the same could be said for Dance, but that’s just simply not the case. To be honest, the best acting was done by Stanley Tucci (Link, Aoki-san’s counterpart) and Lisa Ann Walter (Bobbie, Toyoko-sensei’s counterpart). Richard Gere and J-Lo couldn’t act, and J-Lo looked like silly actress that practiced a bunch to try to look like ballroom dancer, compared to Kusakari who is actually an accomplished ballerina.
But enough of that; what about Dance doesn’t capture the essence and beauty in Dansu? In one word: Culture. For Dance to maintain the same story board, some details were changed, and others were kept the same to stay in touch with an American audience. This could seem harmless on the surface, but the details that are changed alter the entire message of the movie. First, trains. Trains in America are just things that go from one place to another for people that don’t have cars. For the Japanese, trains are used daily by nearly everyone. They symbolize the tough life of the business man that takes the train five or six days a week in crowded conditions to work their ten or twelve hour day. To keep the storyboard, the place that the main character sees the dance instructor has to be the train, but that instantly loses something if it is occurring in America. Second, religion. Confucianism is sometimes called Japan’s “unofficial third religion, after Buddhism and Shinto”. From Confucianism shame became a large part of the decisions made by many Japanese. Shame of ones job, or shame of ones family plays a key role in a desire to get that promotion or chastise ones children. Also, to maintain the roles that are set before them. In Dansu Sugiyama dashes off the train just before the doors close, so that people wouldn’t have a chance to notice. In Dance John runs off the train before the doors close because he was indecisive about getting a closer look at the dance school, which is in turn because as Americans we wouldn’t feel shame for such an act. Already there is a clear cut difference in the thinking and emotional involvement between the two movies. Sugiyama has to make a tough decision, and because of his shame, it’s a very huge decision. To get off the train at all means he is diving in. John on the other hand is just an indecisive person that makes up his mind at the last second.
One change that I don’t understand at all is that the elderly teacher starts off as an alcoholic in Dance and later changes her ways. Her character is also written to be a bit ditsy (especially with a name like Mitsi). Perhaps the reasoning was they wanted to have another dynamic character in the mix. I personally prefer the elderly teacher to be the voice of wisdom that sees through peoples outer layers and helps them find joy in what they do.
Along the same lines of shame and religion, a big difference that makes the American version not work is the reason John doesn’t tell his wife about his dancing. In America, deciding to take up dancing is no big deal. We don’t have a taboo about holding hands in public or saying “I love you”, so dancing doesn’t cross any of those boundaries for us. In Japan that’s clearly different, and between taboo and shame it is easy to explain why Sugiyama did not tell his wife about his endeavors, and also stays true to the themes of the movies regarding roles and not being satisfied with a successful life. For John, another reason obviously had to be made or we could not relate to his as an American. John’s reason is that he didn’t want to hurt his wife by telling her that he wasn’t happy. He cherished her so much that he didn’t want her to even know that something wasn’t right, and he tells her how sorry he is. This makes the entire movie, almost literally, solely about the relationship between John and his wife, with some of the original themes as merely a setting for a love story.
The demise of Dance comes, not from changes made due to cultural reasons, but what seems like changes made for no reason whatsoever and do nothing but take value from the movie. Dansu is extremely personal; it attempts to really get into the feelings and inner thoughts of all the characters. All the characters aren’t means to and end, but ends in and of themselves. Perhaps the most time was spent on Sugiyama’s perspective, but every character had more than a simple cover story going on, especially Mai sensei. In Dance it keeps a fairly impersonal perspective of most of the characters thought processes. The entire idea of protecting your partner was completely left out, which brings a lot more heart into the film, and also explains in better detail why Mai sensei broke up with her partner after their fall at Blackpool. For Paulina it was simply because she didn’t win and was embarrassed, for Mai sensei it was because her partner didn’t try to protect her during their fall. The side characters do get a bit of a window into their psyche, but not nearly to the degree that they did in Dansu.
Before I conclude, I want to take a small detour and say a few things that I did like in the American version. The joke Bobbie (Toyoko) uses frequently is “Stop looking at my ass.” That translates well into Dance, because it keeps Toyoko’s attitude but puts an obvious American spin on it. Also the scene that the daughter finds John dancing in his room is good because of the broom he was holding to keep his posture. He looked really ridiculous holding the broom in his arms, which also translates the meaning well for us. If it was him just dancing like he was in Dansu the daughter might just laugh and not find anything exceptionally strange about it. Another detail that I appreciated in the American version was when Link (Aoki) appeared in the paper and all his co workers found out. After John stands up for him, Link storms into the room and with unquestionable grace offers his hand to a stunned co worker. He whisks her out of her seat, twirls her around and out and back into her seat. After this graceful and powerful display he leaves them all with a gracious *beep* you guys”. Again, it translates well into English.
After viewing Dance with as open a mind as possible I have to say that the reason it doesn’t work is because of how impersonal it is. It also lacks because of the changes that, albeit necessary to relate to an American audience, altered the meaning of the movie. There were too many things that don’t translate and require a much deeper understanding of what’s going on culturally for the movie to have been a true success in light of Dansu.
Daniel Ekdahl