"Shall We Dance" 2004-American Version
For personal reasons, I've been listening to "Book of Love", a The Magnetic Fields song, that was covered by Peter Gabriel for the soundtrack of the American Version of "Shall We Dance", which was obstensibly a Jennifer Lopez vehicle.
I've seen both the original Japanese "Shall we Dansu?" and the remake and while the elements of the story are basically the same, I was surprised by how much I really, really enjoyed the American version because the director, or whomever, decided to take a slightly different approach. (I liked the original too.) The dynamic of the original film focused on the lead dancer and the unhappy accountant, with a trio of accessory characters, and his family later. Susan Sarandon is such a strong actress the American version has a lot to do with how we keep long term relationships and marriages going after the bloom of romance is gone. She had, and delivered, one of the most powerful and unexpectedly deep scenes in the movie, when she is talking with the private investigator, played by Richard Jenkins, whom she hired to follow her husband, she says the following why we marry:
"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."
Susan Sarandon delivered it powerfully and without undue embellishment, she did an amazing job with what could have been a throwaway, whatever "I need the paycheck" role. Richard Gere and the other supporting actors are also nice to watch. Expectedly, J.Lo is the weakest aspect of the film, but the rest of it is so enjoyable that I recommend watching it on a quiet lazy afternoon.
Here is a link to "Book of Love" on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7EI4kBr7BY
Another nugget of gold that I found in the movie, is the song that is used for the a Tango dance sequence between Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, a clip from that can be found on YouTube, but here the video to "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)" by Gotan Project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zD9W9SZj9w
Two more days 'til the big exam,
-Del
I've seen both the original Japanese "Shall we Dansu?" and the remake and while the elements of the story are basically the same, I was surprised by how much I really, really enjoyed the American version because the director, or whomever, decided to take a slightly different approach. (I liked the original too.) The dynamic of the original film focused on the lead dancer and the unhappy accountant, with a trio of accessory characters, and his family later. Susan Sarandon is such a strong actress the American version has a lot to do with how we keep long term relationships and marriages going after the bloom of romance is gone. She had, and delivered, one of the most powerful and unexpectedly deep scenes in the movie, when she is talking with the private investigator, played by Richard Jenkins, whom she hired to follow her husband, she says the following why we marry:
"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."
Susan Sarandon delivered it powerfully and without undue embellishment, she did an amazing job with what could have been a throwaway, whatever "I need the paycheck" role. Richard Gere and the other supporting actors are also nice to watch. Expectedly, J.Lo is the weakest aspect of the film, but the rest of it is so enjoyable that I recommend watching it on a quiet lazy afternoon.
Here is a link to "Book of Love" on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7EI4kBr7BY
Another nugget of gold that I found in the movie, is the song that is used for the a Tango dance sequence between Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez, a clip from that can be found on YouTube, but here the video to "Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre)" by Gotan Project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zD9W9SZj9w
Two more days 'til the big exam,
-Del