phooey. Hollywood did it again. Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez are the lead stars in the American remake of Shall We Dansu?
yes, i’ve seen the original japanese film, and Tamiyo Kusakari, besides being an actual professional ballet dancer, and it being her first film, was approvingly demure and charming as an accomplished dancer who resorted to being a teacher in a small studio near an urban railway. i dont believe i even have to elaborate Jennifer Lopez’s traits to justify how wrong she is for this role. also, Koji Yakusho was exceptionally great as your everyday, lanky salaried husband (he was also Detective Takabe in the excellent Kyua (The Cure), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa), who took dance lessons to get over a depressed life. Richard Gere can’t pull this off. make him smile, and there you go: ‘charm acting‘ defined, Hollywood-style.
bah.
Shall We Dansu? is a sweet jap film, generously laced with soap-opera kitsch, its difficult not to like it. the remake, just based on the trailer i saw, seriously sucks.