Hula Girls: DVD Review
Available through Viz Pictures

The power of dance can change the world. If you interpret the phrase “change the world” to mean “be mildly entertaining for a couple of hours.”

Recently released on Region 1 DVD by Viz Pictures, Hula Girls sets out to settle an age-old debate once and for all. In a rivalry that, uh… rivals Elvis vs. The Beatles or Star Wars vs. Star Trek, we’ve all sat around in bars, coffee houses and friends apartments trying to determine what lies at the apex of economic importance: coal mining or hula dancing. Not to spoil it for you, but the title of the movie gives you a clue concerning the preference of this particular production.

Yes, in the tradition of movies like Footloose and, well, pretty much just Footloose, the girls of a small, Northern Japanese coal mining town must overcome the critical eyes and crotchety judgments of the town elders who fear the specter of fun and frivolity. Based on a true story, a spirited spitfire of a dance instructor from the big city shows up under the premise of showing the townsfolk what’s what, and of course, everyone ends up learning a little something about themselves. The whole affair is a reasonably well paced, sweet but not overly slick movie about the value of hope and dreams in the face of occasionally grim reality.

Despite being somewhat formulaic, the execution of the movie is adept enough to be compelling and enjoyable, often balancing elements of broad comedy and familial melodrama. However, making the movie accessible and appealing to a wide audience and subsequently successfully winning the hearts of Japanese viewers and critics alike, much of the sensuality of the art of hula seems to have been sanitized. Instead, director Sang-il Lee presents a portrait of the dance as poignant, wholesome, playful and not the least bit lascivious.

Music by ukulele phenom (yes, evidently such a position exists) Jake Shimabukuro adds a certain feel of authenticity, but there still exists some feeling that the appropriation of Hula by a theme park in a Northern Japanese town lacks certain cultural context with a hint of exploitation.

Alternately, if you’re just interested in watching a movie that deals with that vexing age when one is free to swim against the tide of looming adult responsibility and pursue impetuous dreams and harnesses Yuu Aoi’s apparent formal dance training, the subtler character-driven tale of Shunji Iwai’s Hana and Alice may better suit your needs. I’m by no means an expert in the art of the dance, but her ballet flourishes seem oddly out of place in a sequence where she attempts to infect her mom with the spirit of hula. On the other hand, Shinobu Yaguchi’s Swing Girls may be more up your alley if you’re looking for a fun movie that doesn’t concern itself with grievous issues like filial dynamics and escaping economic decline in faltering coal mining towns. In which case, you may also want to avoid Zoolander.

By Eugene Poon