Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
After a tragic personal loss, Tokyo ballroom dancing competitor Haru (Rinko Kikuchi, "Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter") is not only inspired by, but desires, new instructor Feder (Alberto Guerra, TV's 'Narcos: Mexico') in "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!"
Laura's Review: B
With his third film, cowriter (with Nicholas Huynh)/director Josef Kubota Wladyka exhibits a completely different cinematic sensibility compared to his first, the gritty "Catch the Fair One" which launched boxing champ Kali Reis' acting career. Wladyka honors his mom, who raised he and his brothers alone while competing on the ballroom floor, but while dancing sequences both real and fantastical are striking and exhilarating, it is also a film about grief, sisterhood and reembracing life buoyed by Kikuchi's quirky, sympathetic heroine.
Haru, who sports unconventional tight curls, competes with her husband Luis (Alejandro Edda, "American Made," TV's 'Narcos: Mexico') who is Mexican. Their household is a mesh of the two cultures, both speaking each other's language, their cuisines fusing. These two clearly adore each other, which is also evident on the dance floor. Competing, they're so in sync they literally float towards the ceiling, but suddenly a look of panic crosses Luis' face and he drops to the ground, suffering a heart attack. Their cultures now clash when Haru, who honors his wishes by arranging a Japanese cremation ceremony, is overruled by his father and sister, who wish to transport him back to Mexico for burial. Then Haru locks herself in their home and pulls the drapes, shutting herself off from the world. Nine months later, she is still in seclusion, dancing with Luis' picture, her husband reappearing in a big, black bird costume to comfort her, but her older sisters, the even more unorthodox Hiromi (You, "Nobody Knows," "Still Walking") and the traditional Yuki (Yoh Yoshida, "Like Father, Like Son"), literally break in when she fails to show for the 46th birthday party they've thrown for her. It is Hiromi and Yuki who get Haru back into dancing class where she is immediately taken with the sexy, new instructor, now overcompensating by aggressively pursuing the man Hiromi, who is also making herself available, has learned is in an open marriage. That big black bird regards the new situation with sadness.
Cinematographer Daniel Satinoff ensures that we actually see the dance moves, rotating amidst dancing couples on the floor, but is the musical fantasy elements which Wladyka segues into quite organically which really delight. After Feder defends Haru from drunken Japanese businessmen on the street at night, the physical altercation morphs into a choreographed dance set to 'Be My Baby.' But Feder's marital situation and Haru's grief clearly weigh on her mind as the Black Bird watches from the doorway when she and Feder make love, the two men then expressing attraction for each other as Haru looks on in shock. Dressed as Mexico's Day of the Dead's La Catrina for the dance school's Halloween Party, Haru will go too far when Feder's wife makes an appearance.
Wladyka has a real knack for casting his leading ladies, Kikuchi both madcap and adorable as the woman trying to get her life back on track. "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!" also exhibits the director's ability to shape films from gritty thrillers to musical fantasies, a remarkable talent, and he caps his latest with just the right touch of hopeful whimsy.
Robin's Review: B
Haru (Rinko Kikuchi) and Luis (Alejandro Edda) are in love with each other and love competing in the Tokyo ballroom dance world. Then, during a challenge that they are acing, tragedy strikes and Haru is left alone. She isolates herself, but her two sisters draw her back out to the dance floor and romantic ends in "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!"
This is what used to be called, in my day, a "chick flick." Before you get your hackles up, I mean that in a good way and I compare "Ha-Chan" to films like "Eat Pray Love (2010)" with Julia Roberts and "Under the Tuscan Sun (2002)" with Diane Lane." The pro-femme message of empowerment and love makes this entertaining, even for a guy.
Haru, after Luis's death, is a lost soul. Her loving sisters, Hiromi (You) and Yuki (Yoh Yoshida), cannot get her to come of her apartment and join the living once again. She refuses to budge and the sisters break in on her and, finally, get her back to the studio to dance. There, she meets the new instructor, handsome Fedir (Alberto Guerra) and immediately develops a crush on the man.
But, this is not just about Haru coming back to life and love. It is also about loss and grief as a very large black bird (Luis, of course) appears to give her comfort. Because of the tragic beginning, Haru has a brand new arc in life as she slowly sheds that grief and comes back to the living world.
Director and co-writer Josef Kubota Wladyka (with Nicholas Huynh) embraces his main character, Haru – with a whole lot of help, and comic relief, from her very loyal sisters. There are many fantasy dance numbers as Haru imagines a possible relationship (e.g. sex) with Fedir.
The fantasy sequences are done well and the dance choreography is entertaining and colorful. Costuming, makeup and set design all contribute to the entertainment factor of "Ha-Chan." I stand by my 'chick flick" opinion.
Sony Pictures Classics releases "Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!" in theaters on 9/25/26.
