Day 2 – Your favorite movie.

I love dance movies. Maybe even more so than period dramas, which is saying something. 🙂 Strictly Ballroom, Mad Hot Ballroom, Swing Kids, Dirty Dancing, yes, even Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. There’s something about the swirling of couples in fancy dress, moving to the rhythm of a waltz or tango, of finding love through the mastering of difficult routines. I’m such a sap.

Two favorites tonight. I was going to make picspams, but I really want to get to bed early tonight, so we’ll have to make do with googled images.

“Shall We Dansu?” was a little movie that was made in Japan in 1997, about an accountant who found the passion that he was missing in taking dance lessons. It was later remade in 2004, starring Richard Gere, Susan Saradon and Jennifer Lopez. I like both movies very much, but this one has a quiet charm and a simpler story that I think is just a tad more engaging. I love the secondary characters so much. They all have a different personality and are three dimensional.

You can find it on amazon to buy, or on YouTube to watch in 9 minute segments.

And my all-time favorite. I have watched it probably close to a hundred times and I still love it:

Strictly Ballroom. I think that this was Baz Luhrmann’s first movie, styled as a mockumentary and is somewhat a “Ugly Duckling” retelling in dance. The costumes and acting are over the top (you should watch the movie just to see the main character’s mother’s eyes. Wow). Once again, it’s a movie that really fleshes out the secondary characters. They all have side stories that are important overall.

My friend Becka, when I insisted that she watch it, reported that she felt frustrated with the stores that have the girl take off her glasses to become beautiful, to conform to what society agrees is beauty. While I admit that that is part of the story here, I’ve always felt that the story transcends that. Yes, she removes her glasses, but doing so means that she has to learn to trust in herself and her partner. It’s resisting conformity that’s the take home message. I love that she is feisty and knows her own mind. Even after being ridiculed, she’s out on the dance floor, because that’s what she loves.

It is broody Scott who makes the movie, though. He has the most yummy biceps.

You can’t find the whole movie online, but you can watch the finale in all of its glittery glory here.

A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.