Um Paraíso Havaiano

Sat down with my daughter to watch this movie, not really sure what to expect. I am a fan of foreign movies, particularly Korean, Chinese, and Japanese, but also other parts of the world, so I don't mind watching with subtitles. In fact, I find foreign films much more realistic than a lot of the tripe out of Hollywood.

This movie is very emotional, bringing tears (mostly happy ones) to both me and my daughter. The story is well told and the acting brilliant, and some of the gorgeous Japanese girls certainly helped to light up the screen, especially Yu Aoi who won "Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role" in the Japan Academy Prize.

Realising at the end that this movie was based on an actually true story added much more realism to the story, and the plight of the girls and their families.

A very inspirational movie, and a delight to watch. Why this only has 7 out of 10 on IMDb (at time of writing) surprises me. We loved it!!! Do yourself a favour and watch it.

This is one of my favorite movie. It contains nice relationships among people in country side, a little bit comedy yet heart warming.

Girls living in Hukushima prefecture including Kumiko, played by Yu Aoi decided to work as a dancer to save people's live there. Those days around Showa40 year, their life style was going to be changed, and it meant people in Kumiko's village were going to lose their work. Instead of that, they try to built a big entertainer, "Resort Hawaiians". That's why they try hard to be a fine dancers to work there as "Hula girls"!! However, it's not easy to manage it through some problems. Villager are used to work as coal miner, even through they have some dead in mine, and also it's hard for Kumiko and her mates to master Hula which they had not know at all. Can they dance? Can they save people? What's become of them? I believe you can enjoy not only story, but also one of Japanese dialects.This is what I, Japanese student says, so you can be sure to enjoy interesting Japanese. It obviously shows Japanese dialect! Do not miss it!

This is a story about change. Hula Girls, based on true events, takes place in a small Japanese coal mining town in the late 60s, where its town folks find that with the shifting reliance on oil from coal, the survival of their town is at stake when a major company decides to retrench and cut its headcount.

In attempts to makeover their economy (ain't that familiar), the sleepy town has decided to come up with a "Hawaii Center", a resort like facility where the warm atmosphere of Hawaii will be recreated in their cold/coal environment. It's a drastic change from blue collar to the service industry, and with the young girls being roped in to be dance performers, the traditionalists are up in arms, against the entire project. Skimpy outfits and gyrating moves don't make it easy, and neither does an outsider being roped in to teach the girls a new skill, turn out popular too.

Hula Girls, winner of many awards in the 2006 Japanese equivalent of the Oscars, and also the Japanese submission to the 2007 Oscar's Best Foreign Language film, actually seemed a little too familiar in its narrative style, bringing to mind movies such as Waterboys, Swing Girls, Linda Linda Linda, and the more obvious reference and similarity, will be that of My Mother is a Belly Dancer, well, for most of the first half anyway. But perhaps with this familiarity, it took less time for the audience to identify with it, and it set on its focus to endear the key characters to the audience.

As mentioned, it's about change, set against the backdrop of changing industries, attitudes, and skills. It's a heartwarming story no less, about the strength of sisterhood, where unity sees them battling challenges ahead, much against all odds, especially when adversity comes from within. It's not all serious as it sounds, as there are ample comedy infused, especially with its outcast characters such as the nerdy mom and the plus sized tomboy, and their initial attempts at performance during road trips advertising their new attraction.

Like movies in the similar genre, it doesn't take long to identify the leader of the pack, in Kimiko (Yu Aoi), as she becomes the protégé of the teacher Mrs Hirayama (Yasuko Matsuyuki), given the thankless task of whipping the girls into shape. Yu Aoi is no doubt the star of the movie, with her good looks and time dedicated for her to show what it takes. And expect a number of sniffles as the filmmakers weaved in classical dramatic moments primarily aimed at activating those tear ducts.

At its heart, it's a movie on the triumph of the human spirit against adversity, and of friendship. It's not without its flaws, like when certain transitions seemed to suffer from lack of time devoted to provide more depth, but when the formula comes to the end, with its rousing, highly anticipated finale showed in its entirety and in full regalia, you'll no doubt be giving full of applause for its showmanship.

Definitely going into my books as a contender for the best movies of the year. Highly recommended, despite its slow start.

I saw 'Hula Girl' at the Toronto International Film Festival with the affable director Lee Sang-Il present.

This movie, based on the true story of how a dying coal mining town attempts the preposterous idea of building a taste of Hawaii in the cold town through dancing girls, a huge palm-tree filled centre and an 'outsider' dance teacher from Tokyo.

Almost immediately, you know that this movie will be about the town's struggle to survive pitting the traditional, town-encrusted family against those supporting a potential new way of life. I had thoughts of the Japanese version of 'Shall We Dance' ringing through my mind, but perhaps the dancing is the furthest you can compare between the movies. The emotional depth of the movie was somewhat unexpected...sadness, some corniness, some laughter. Yet the movie worked where it needed to, and kept moving at the right pace leaving me at the end feeling like I had seen everything that had happened. Except that at the end, I had been so entranced with the characters I was wondering how they, themselves turned out.

The movie pulled me in nicely with a strong story that was well developed and a really good watch.

If you're looking for something a little different, and open to learning a little bit about life in a small Japanese town in the 1960s, I think this gives you a good feel for the people, the attitudes, and a change that took grip in a dramatic and light-hearted way.

Kudos to the director and production team!

A delightful & endearing film. Hula Girls is another example of the quality, vibrancy and most important of all, the originality that can still be found in the Japanese (& French) film industries (so unlike Hollywood which is mired in re-makes) Hula Girls has many of the very typically Japanese quirkiness which mixes the history & culture of Japan with genuine humour & real human feelings combining all into a wholly entertaining film which has all the hallmarks of that other fabulous Japanese film, "Shall We Dance" A great cast which had some solid veteran performances and also showcased some very promising young talent and faces to look out for in the future.

Stunning dance routines and a delightful soundtrack by Jake Shimabukuro on the ukulele.

This is a film not to be missed and one to treasure on DVD.