Shall We Dance - Prologue

[Carole Cavanaugh]

I am at this very moment preparing to teach a class with the Japanese
video of Shall We Dance? as our text. The prologue is there in the
Japanese version (I transcribed it last night!). There is a scene of the
wife and daughter in the family car that is not in the film released in
the U.S. 

Carole Cavanaugh
Middlebury College


On Mon, 3 Nov 1997, Kerry Smith wrote:

> In discussions during the Modern Japan History Workshop at Harvard this
> past weekend,  someone pointed out that the version of _Shall We Dance_ now
> appearing in U.S. theatres  begins with a scene of what one viewer assumed
> was a European ballroom and a brief commentary on Japanese attitudes
> towards humor and the public display of affection.  The commentary pointed
> out that Japanese are comfortable with neither humor nor public displays of
> affection.
> 
> I'm guessing that this contextualization was added to the film for its
> foreign release.  Is this a correct assumption?  (I have the Japanese
> release of the film at home on video but haven't seen it as yet.)  I've
> been trying to remember other, similar "introductions" to Japanese films
> but have so far come up short.  I'm wondering if the introduction in this
> case serves to introduce American viewers to a set of stereotypes they
> might otherwise be unfamiliar with before going on to debunk those images,
> or,  and more cynically,  does it help exoticize the characters by placing
> them in the context of a uniquely Japanese situation?
> 
> How would the film have been different without that introductory sequence?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Kerry Smith
> Department of History
> Brown University
> (401) 863-1246
> (401) 863-1040 (fax)
> 
> Kerry_Smith at Brown.edu
> 
> 
>