"Shall We Dance?"
August, 30,
1997Dear Joe and DebbyHow glad I am to read the following message of yours!: > Last night at the Vinegar Hill
Theater on MArket Thank you for giving me a chance to write a little bit of my opinion and impression about the movie. "Shall We Dance?" shows incredibly well the mentality of Japanese middle-aged men and women today. To us, being ones of them, "Mr. Sugiyama" the businessman who starts social dance and finds the joy in it is almost our neighbor, or rather he portrays ourselves. Do you remember the first monologue that he makes about the relationship on Japanese married couples--that they are ashamed of themselves to express their affection in public, never saying "I love you" to each other nor holding hands even? It's true. Young unmarried couples, on the contrary, do a lot. They are hugging and kissing on the streets, on the train, everywhere to show them off. Not the married/middleaged couples. You might ask me why not? It's a hard question to give a single satisfactory answer to American people who are quite freely expressing themselves in gesture.@One possible answer might be like this: once you get married and have children in Japan, in most cases, we are supposed to play the roles of parents/the master of the house and the housewife. The stereotype gender roles. In the majority of households, a husband and his wife tend to call each other not by their given names but by "Father" and "Mother." Just like this: "Father, dinner is redy!" "Mother, where is my new sweater?" especaially when they are talking in the presence of their children. In Japanese language there are some unwritten rules: most of the subjects of sentences are omitted: in conversational situation, people are referred to from the youngest participant's view point (eg. if you are talking with your own mother, wife, and children, you will refer to your mother as "grandmother," your wife as "mother" and yourself as "father" and others will follow this rule without question. At your workplace, you will be addressed with your status name, not with your first/given mame (you will be called, for example, just "Professor," "Professor Strzepek" or "Mr. Strzepek" but never, ever be "Joe." I have never been talked to by my colleagues, except by non-Japanese/English speaking ones, "Hi, Keiko, how are you doing?" The most casual conversation will be like this:"Hello, Ms. Kitada. How was your stay in Virginia?" In other words, there is a very convenient word in schools "Sensei" ((literally meaning "teacher")) which can be used all the time for addressing and referring to people whatever they teach; English literature, arithmetic, dancing, or driving!) I wonder if you realized these facts in the movie. Mr. Sugiyama is constantly calling the instructors of the dance-school "teacher." He never called the young attractive instructor with her first name "Mai." ("Mai" is a symbolical name meaning "dancing.") In the movie, the relationship as "teacher-student" is fixed and he cannot change it. At office he is always called "Manager" as if he had no personal name. These social/lingusitic phenomena are all parts of our traditional customs in our society. However, it is ture that people are not satisfied with them. You could see a deep-rooted "conformism" prevailing in the society. The main principle is "be careful not to demonstrate you as being exceptional or different from others." That's why the businessmen try to conceal their activity (dancing as a hobby). All the more, therefore, they want to get away from the inhuman conformism by being engaged in social-dancing--which seems to include "human touch" along with "romnticism" and "exoticism" to the eyes of very typical ordinary middle-aged men. Compared to businessmen, women look more flexible and free in Japan these days. You might have realized how outspoken the stout middleaged widow is. The comical man "Mr. Aoki" (boldheaded and wearing a wig) is a sort of blacksheep of the company and the society. Both Mr. Sugiyama and Mr. Aoki started working for the company at the same time; the former was promoted to be the manager very smoothly for his diligence, obedience, and honesty; whereas, the latter is still one of the untitled employees, always making mistakes and is made fun of. Curious enough, being middleaged and single can also be a factor of "being different" in Japanese society. (You might say, "It's none of your business!" with anger if you are identified "different" just by being single in the United States.) Only recently people in Japan started protesting against this kind of "quiet discrimination." "Mr. Aoki," however, presents the outstanding talent and characteristics on the dancing scenes. (The actor himself is one of the most popular TV/movie stars in Japan--Naoto Takenaka.) The widow and the boldheaded make a good contrast with Mr. and Mrs. Sugiyama. We notice again that their first(given) names are not mentioned at all. Mrs. Sugiyama might be a mystery to American women. Why doesn't she accuse her husband for his secrecy nor try to retreive his concern to her more positively? Probably American feminists will criticize the way the housewife is presented in the film. The modesty, the passiveness, and the tolerence of Mrs. Sugiyama are exaggerated. Her abrupt behavior to hire a detectiveIt, which she does only because she is afraid to confront with the reality of her husband by herself in person face to face can be a focus of argument among the audience of the movie. I would say it is actually hard to find such a woman in Japan today. The point is that "the gap" between a married couple who are honestly observing the social standards and rules is so deep. Nobody can tell what will become of Mr. Sugiyama after Mai leaves for England. Will he continue to dance without her or will he involve his wife as well in dancing, like one of other couples in the drama? The ending of the movie is open to the audience. Beside the criticizm to the conformism of Japanese society, the movie presents the process and the result of Japanese "westernization." You might have found in the symbolical level how hard Japanese people have been making efforts to "catch up with the westerners." Please look at the interior of the newly built house of Mr. Sugiyama. Did you find any traditional Japanese tastes in it? Didn't you think that it looked not so different from yours? It is really much smaller compared to the ones of American middle class living in the wealthy suburban community; however, he has to work all his life to pay for it. He has to endure the long commuting on the train. His wife stays home, keeping the house tidy and nice. (You might remember the housewives in 50's and 60's in the United States.) In fact, the real housewives in Japan are not as elegant/quiet as Mrs. Sugiyama. Many of them work part-time to support the family economy. Education of children and the long-term home loan from bank cost so expensive. They can hardly be hanging around all the time. The description of Mrs. Sugiyama is the most formalistic one in the movie. I believe the director did it on purpose. The caricature of "a typical Japanese housewife," _which_ is one of the endangered spieces on earth. If Mr. Sugiyama "flies" for dancing, then his wife should "dive" in wetsuits and aqualungs in fact. Director Suho did not let her do so. I guess he wanted to concentrate on Mr. Sugiyama's fantasy for freedom and romance; the concepts which were both imported to Japan form western sense of value in modern times, like social dance itself. The elder instructor "Utako-sensei" always encourages her students to "enjoy dancing," but they do not know how to "enjoy themselves." They just devote themselves into the act of dancing to forget their unhappiness or dissatisfaction in their real life. Social dance can also be "Tao of Dancing" when it is modified in Japan. Modernization/westernization of Japan had an aspect of "To learn, to master and to surpass the Western countries." We seem to have forgotten--or I should say it was impossible for us-- to import the element of "joy" in cultural activities of the western world. The result is the movie. The attractive dancer "Mai" leaves everybody behind to go back to England with the charm of dancing (one of the flowers/fruits that the Japanese tried so hard to obtain in vain). To adore or to dream of the western culture is different from getting it. Japan has been in everlasting "one-sided-love" with the Western culture. "Mai" is a Japanese woman in her physical appearance but is not in her spirit. She is an outsider. An illusion to Mr. Sugiyama. It is comical because the appearance betrays the reality. I would call the movie a tragi-comedy. Japan has its own tradition of dancing, which is so formalistic. It has its own beauty and depth. Completely different from western dancing. If western dancing is dynamic in its action, Japanese dancing is static. Even in stillness and stop-motion, it has meanings of all kinds. Dancing in Japan rarely let men and women touch each other physically in spite of its symbolical eroticism everywhere. The distance between the western world and the oriental world is still very far in spite of all the efforts that the Japanese have been making, through imitaion and hard work. I think the director of "Shall We Dance?" knows the distance. The actress who played the role of Mai, the attractive instructor, is an eminent classic ballerina who was educated and has made her career both in Japan and in European coutries. It was her first movie experience. After the movie was completed, she got married to the director Suho in her real life. What an irony! She is very active in the world of classic ballet. Her name is Tamiyo Kusakari. You may have a chance to see her on the stage. The actor who played the role of Mr. Sugiyama is one of the most popular and the bestknown in Japanese TV/movie scenes. His name is Koji Yakushyo. He is playing the role of a quiet, faithful businessman so well. The interaction and the contrast between Mr. Aoki and Mr. Sugimoto are presenting, I believe, both sides of Japan. We are so serious and comical--when looked at objectively. Maybe all humanbeings are. I think the movie successfully presents the actual situation of Japanese people. It has been winning the attention and the heartful laughter of the westerners, which is very remarkable. We the Japanese have seldom done depicting ourselves in the way you the westerners can easily follow--quoting/making use of your tradition (that of dancing here) in or own way. In comedy, the reality resides very often. I would like to know what Debby and you thought about the movie. Looking forward to hearing from you. best wishes
Keiko |
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