Answer to Question 1
Characters in a musical express their most intense emotions through song
and dance. A dance number is seldom meant to be taken literally: It's a stylized
convention that we accept as a symbolic expression of certain feelings and ideas. In
Singin' in the Rain, for example, Gene Kelly does an elaborate dance routine in a
downpour. He twirls around lampposts, splashes through puddles like a happy idiot,
and leaps ecstatically through a pelting rainliterally nothing can dampen the
exhilaration of his love. A wide gamut of emotions is expressed in this sequence, with
each kinetic variation symbolizing the character's feelings about his girl. She can
make him feel dreamy, childlike, erotically stimulated, brave and forthright, dopey
and moonstruck, and finally wild with joy. In some kinds of action genres, physical
contests are stylized in a similar manner.
Answer to Question 2
This charming social comedy centers on a 42-year-old accountant who
secretly takes up ballroom dancinga totally foreign concept in Japan where such a
hobby would be considered weird. In a society that makes a fetish of social
conformity, any act of individualism is likely to be viewed as ridiculous and
laughable. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down is a proverb that virtually
all Japanese schoolchildren learn when they're very young. Even as adults, they are
intensely afraid of appearing different.
Nonetheless, our stifled hero decides to take dancing lessons. He's so ashamed that he
doesn't even tell his wife. Besides, they hardly speak anymore, though they're
unfailingly polite. He feels that there's something pretentious about imitating
Western oddities, something unmanly about wanting to be graceful. Most Japanese
would agree that it's eccentric and showoffy to perform strange steps in front of other
people. Yet his daily grind lacks excitement and romance. He is virtually a stranger to
his family. And maybejust oncehe would like to stand out in a crowd. This shot
embodies his double life: Above the desk, he's a conscientious accountant, but down
below, he's practicing his dance steps.
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