By Dan Skip Allen

Most film festivals have a plethora of different kinds of films. That goes the same for the Sundance Film Festival. Last January ‘s film festival had a lot of unique movies that have been bought up by distributors, including Sony Pictures Classics. This indie studio is always looking for new films that they can get behind, and their latest is the indie rom-com “Ha-Shan, Shake Your Booty!. A mixture of Japanese and Latino culture. Both Japanese and Spanish are spoken in this film, and that mixture adds a terrific element to the movie. As a fan of foreign films, I was able to enjoy the aspects of both Japanese and Latino culture. I think a lot of other people will as well. 

Haru (Ha-Chan) (Rinko Kikuchi, Babel) is a happy Japanese woman. She is married to Luis (Alejandro Edda), a Mexican man. They live in Tokyo, Japan, and cook dinner and eat together and have a dog like many other couples. In their spare time, they like to compete in ballroom dancing competitions. While dancing at the Open Tokyo Dance Classic, tragedy strikes. Her husband falls down and becomes unresponsive. This proves to be a difficult situation for the Kikuchi character as she becomes very emotional and doesn’t leave her home. It takes her two closest friends, Hirumi (You) and Yuki (Yo Yoshida), to coax her to get back out and into the dance studio. Where she meets Fedir (Alberto Guerra,Dancing With the Stars), a beautiful dance instructor who she’s instantly attracted to. This is what finally proves to be the thing that gets her out of her doldrums, but is it the answer? 

This film has a unique story structure that helps get its premise across better. There are a number of chapters with titles that are very informative given the structure. Starting with Chapter One: Nice to Meet You, Haru Karasi, Chapter Two: Happy Birthday Ha-Chan, Chapter Three: Oh Fuck Fedir, Chapter Four: Private Lessons, Chapter Six: Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner, and Chapter Six: LA Caterina and there is an epilogue as well. These chapter sequences give a lot of the film away, and that’s good because of the translation aspect of the dialogue. The writers do a good job of separating the different sides of this story.using the chapters.

I first saw Rinko Kikuchi in a film called “Babel” back in 2005. She has a specific personality that is very singular. She adds a specific flavor to this character. I don’t think many actresses could do it like she did. She had to run the gambit of emotions from happy to sad and everything in between. She doesn’t emote very well, but I could tell when she was happy. After her husband had passed, it was easy to fall into a deep depression but once she found a man she could genuinely fall for or have an interest in, it was easy for her to be happy. That wasn’t that easy, though, and that’s where the drama of the story comes in.

Albert Guerra is a man I wasn’t familiar with before watching him in this movie. I wasn’t a fan of “Dancing with the Stars,” so I didn’t see him in anything before this film. I’m not a fan of dancing in general either. So he was a complete revelation to me in this role. Obviously, the dancing stuff was right up his alley, and acting was probably new to him. He seemed pretty good at it despite not being a seasoned actor. His chemistry with Kikuchi was very good. Despite the story being both in Spanish and Japanese, he was able to get his thoughts out in a believable way. The passion with which he put into the dancing he was able also put into the acting which made the film better all the way around. I enjoyed him quite a bit in this.

With there being a foreign film aspect to this story, I can see some people having a lost in translation effect while watching it. The best friends are funny, and the love and relationship stuff is what drives the plot forward, but it’s the dancing that is the most entertaining part of the movie. Inexplicably, while walking, talking, or eating dinner, the characters break out into song and dance occasionally. That was jarring at first until I started to listen to the songs and closely watch the dance routines. This was done exceptionally well. These moments were the true heart of this movie. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. A “Grease” reenactment and a song used in “Goodfellas” are two specific moments of these in the film. 

“Ha-Chan, Shake You Booty!” was a pleasant surprise to me. I heard good things out of the Sundance Film Festival back in January, but I didn’t know what to expect.  Should have known if Sony Pictures Classics picked it up it was going to be a good movie. And I have to say it is very good. There are a lot of aspects of it that are different from most films I’ve seen in recent weeks and months and that’s a good thing. The lead actors Kikuchi and Guerra are exceptional in their roles, and the supporting cast are also pretty good. Especially the two best friends. The direction and writing are incredible, especially during the dance sequences. This story could be one people won’t get, but I think it’s one they should pay close attention to to understand all the idiosyncrasies of it. I truly enjoyed all of the odd moments as well as the normal stuff that was in this movie. I hope it translates to the audience when it comes out in theaters this week.

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 stars