Hula Girls

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.

Comparing to other Japanese dramas that I've ever watched, this film was quite unique. Unlike most other Japanese dramas whose atmospheres are quite refined and reserved, where the characters display their emotions and feelings in moderate and poetic manners that we often regard as a typical Japanese culture, the characters in "Hula girls" are pretty much straight forward in expressing their emotions and rather rough in manners. It reminded me of the atmosphere of old Sicilian village where Toto of "Cinema Paradiso" had spent his boyhood, where people are rough and tough in manners and sometimes even vulgar but still warm-hearted and have good humanity.

"Hula girls" is a heart-warming human drama. It will warm your heart in a little different manners from other typical Japanese human dramas. It makes audiences sometimes laugh and sometimes shed tears. It will make a wonderful family movie. Especially, I loved the last hula dancing scene where all the emotions, the joy, the sadness, the struggle and the overcoming are melted down and sublimated into a beautiful performance. It was really beautiful and touching.

This film was quite dramatic. There were some very emotional scenes. I often cried. The dance scenes were simple (subtle) and quite appropriate. We get a realistic glimpse into the Japanese homes, the workplace and the local eating place, as well as some Japanese customs (particularly the sumimasen), in this small 1960's Japanese town.

A Hula Dance teacher is brought to a small mining town to teach Hula to the young girls in hopes that the town will create a Hawaiian tourist attraction in the near future. The young girls are presented with an opportunity to change their fate (and unknowingly, the fate of their town). The majority of the townsfolk are in complete opposition, putting the young girls at serious odds with their families and the society in which the live.

This story is loaded with dramatic personal interactions between characters. Many of the characters are developing (people becoming better persons). The sensei undergoes a bit of an attitude adjustment, inspired by her dancers. However, it is not until a climactic Hula Show that we realize the true heroine of Hula Girls.

I shall recommend this to all aspiring dancers. This review was based on the Japanese film with English subtitles.

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.

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!