Quickstep in 'Shall We Dance'

[MissBallroomBear]

Hey guys,

Since you're all such a lovely bunch of people (cough;)) I was wondering if you could please help me with something. In the movie 'Shall we Dance' they do a Quickstep in the competition at the end. I was wondering if anyone knows what the name of the peice of music is? I watched the credits to see if I could find out that way but, since it has no lyrics, it's a bit hard to put a name to it.

Would be very appreciative if anyone has any ideas.

Cheers, MBB.

[etp777]

ooo, that's a great scene. But don't know the song, sorry.

[MissBallroomBear]

It's not just a great scene, it's a great movie!

Also If anyone has any suggestions for Samba, Quickstep or Slow Rhythm they would be highly appreciated as well.

[DMD]

To which Shall We Dance are you referring? The Japanese version from ~1996 or the later American version?

[DMD]

If you're referring to the American version - try going to amazon.com (or another vendor) and listening to the clips on the soundtrack - perhaps you'll be better able to recognize the song you want.

[BM]

I think the tune might be "Happy Feet" by John Altman for the Richard & JLo version. However, the version I have is fast . . . =\

[LucyDiamond]

Just checked the soundtrack to the movie and it's Happy Feet by Randy Spendlove.

[MissBallroomBear]

Thanks heaps!

And it was the American version I was referring to.. I didn't know there were two.

[RickRS]

Thanks heaps!

And it was the American version I was referring to.. I didn't know there were two.

The Japanese film is the original, with the American film being a remake. I've seen the first but never the last. Anyone that's seen both care to compare?

In the Japanese film, the dramatic tension comes from the fact that ballroom dancing is frowned on in Japanese sociality (or at least at the time of the film in 1996). So the hero, an ordinary white collar worker, tries to keep his attaction to ballroom dance a secret from his family, co-workers, and friends. And there is confusion of his attraction; to dance or to the beautiful woman who is his instructor.

I've alway wondered what the Richard Gere remake did the basic plotline of ballroom dancing being disgraceful?

[waltzgirl]

I preferred the Japanese version. It was so funny and true about learning to dance. I really recommend renting it.

The American version was OK--at least there was dancing to watch. But I felt it was actually patronizing toward ballroom. It seemed to me to portray ballroom as something done by oddballs (that's not me, right? ;)) and as a kind of low-rent activity. The ballroom was in a shady neighborhood, the Jennifer Lopez character was presented as a Blackpool finalist who worked in this nowhere studio (and charged only $45/hour for lessons!). This was most apparent toward the end when a couple of Gere's dance buddies show up at his home. It's a lavish well-to-do lawyer's home and they look so out of place in their rattletrap car and tacky clothes.

Where the Japanese version was on the side of ballroom against the disapproving society, I felt the American version took the mainstream attitude that ballroom was weird and portrayed the Gere character was cutely quirky to slum in this odd world.

Of course, this was all before DWTS! Wonder if it would be presented differently now?

[DennisBeach]

I also preferred the Japanese version. The type and amount of lessons was much more realistic in the Japanese version. They also explained the atitude problem the young lady teacher had.

[bjp22tango]

I also preferred the Japanese version. I can't tell how I would have rated the American version if I hadn't seen the Japanese version first, but it didn't compare favorably.

In some ways the American version was a scene for scene copy of the Japanese movie, but the American version seemed to be edited very choppily. To my way of thinking Jennifer Lopez's character came across as bi-polar, at least. Because they didn't develop her story like they did in the Japanese version, her actions were unexplained and strange.

I will say that the people I watched it with in the theatre seemed to like the American version a lot, especially the iconic "Richard Gere in Tux coming up the escalator" scene.

I think Stanley Tucci did a great job with his part, but you really should see the Japanese original with the Donny Burns wannabee.

I will have to rent it the American version and watch it again to see if it plays any more favorably.

[Angel HI]

Anoter vote for the orig. Japanese film. It deals with japanese cultural issues, and tells a very true story of BR in the process. Noting at that time amer.'s lack luster feeling towards BR in the mainstream, and dance in general, the amer. film, is a love story loosely using dance to support it. The huge differences in plot were very interesting seeing how, yes, the amer version is, in many ways, a scene for scene copy.

[WorksForShoes]

I saw the American version first (just weeks after we started ballroom, actually), and I prefer the Japanese version.

For me, although the American version is pretty faithful to the original, it suffers because of the changes they had to make regarding culture to get it to be understandable to a Japanese audience. For example, the wife in the Japanese version very understandably goes to a PI to find out what her husband is up to in the evening, because there is a cultural expectation that he would be out drinking and maybe even messing around, but from my understanding it is something the wives wouldn't ask outright about. This doesn't translate for me with Susan Sarandon's character, who I really believe would have met Richard Gere at the bottom of the stairs when he got home and asked what the heck he'd been up to! :-)

Also, because we don't have a cultural bias against ballroom dancing or public touch (to the same degree), they had to make the crush on JLo a little more obvious so it could function more as the reason for starting dance. But that destroys the wonderful poignancy of the original, where this man whose success has trapped him in a life of responsibility reaches out wanting to feel something, anything, and ultimately finds that in dance.

But the music in the American version is better, and Richard Gere is nice to look at, so there is something to recommend each version. I think I may lobby for a dance film fest with DH this weekend.

[Tzah]

Can anyone find the Perfidia "extended" version in the American version of the movie?

[samina]

Anyone that's seen both care to compare?

In the Japanese film, the dramatic tension comes from the fact that ballroom dancing is frowned on in Japanese sociality (or at least at the time of the film in 1996). So the hero, an ordinary white collar worker, tries to keep his attaction to ballroom dance a secret from his family, co-workers, and friends. And there is confusion of his attraction; to dance or to the beautiful woman who is his instructor.

I've alway wondered what the Richard Gere remake did the basic plotline of ballroom dancing being disgraceful?

i've got both. the story of the japanese version is more logical (because of how it relates to the culture, as you've said) and i like the quirky characters a lot. the american version is a prettier film. so it depends on what you're in the mood for.

[RickRS]

Actually, I have a hankering (did I spell that right?) to see the original Japanese version again. I saw that film on DVD a few years ago, shortly after it was first released and not since. Would not have seen it if Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel had not reviewed it on their TV show.

Maybe time for a small Christmas present for myself :D

[waltzgirl]

If you watch it after starting to learn to dance, I think you'll enjoy it even more. There are so many little, funny-and-true touches about starting to learn dance that you'll appreciate so much more now that you've experienced them. Enjoy!