"Shall We Dance" is director Masayuki Suo's largest break into North
             American cinema. Previously, his works include a "pink" (X-rated) movie
             called "Daughter in Law", a TV drama, a documentary called "A Taxing
             Woman", and a major picture called "Manic Zen", followed by a movie
             depicting a college Sumo wrestler. Though released in English, "Manic
             Zen" was only seen in movie festivals and not released in the United
             States. When asked about Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu's influence on
             "Shall We Dance", Suo replies, " I didn't think very much about Ozu,
             therefore I don't know how I was influenced..." However, he credits Ozu as
             a great influence on his first movie, "Daughter-in-Law" (Kaufman).
             Miramax distributed "Shall We Dance" in America, after executives saw
             the film at the American Film Market. "Shall We Dance" was showcased at
             Sundance, and won an impressive Japanese Academy Awards (Dickson). The film
             was cut by 18 minutes for the American market (Kaufman).
             "Shall We Dance" explores the life of Shohei Sugiyama, a Japanese
             businessman trapped in a bland and frustrating life. He spends most of his
             days waking up early, going to work, and collapsing in bed at the end of
             the day. He may have a more meaningful relationship with his work than
             with either Masako, his wife, or his teenage daughter. After years of this
             life, he has finally managed to scrape together enough for a down payment
             on a house, which only means that his mortgage payments have him trapped
             On the way home from work, Sugiyama spots a beautiful woman in the
             window of a dance studio. He finds himself drawn to the woman, and
             eventually returns to the studio and signs up for ballroom dancing lessons
             in the hope of getting closer. The woman in the window turns out to be
             Mai, a perfectionistic dance teacher with absolutely no interest in
             Sugiyama. Despite her disinterest, he continues his ...