Hula Girls (2006)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Please don't spend money on this.

The first must-see film of the year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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.

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.

Hula Girl is based on a true story, which a female coach from Tokyo teaches Hula dance( Hawaiian dance) to girls living in a rural area to make them professional dancers for the Hawaiian Center. It is set in Fukushima Prefecture in Tohoku area about in 1965.The place, Iwaki was famous for coal mines. At that time, coal was replaced by oil, so the coal mines were almost closed down and workers lost their job. So, some people decided to make a Hawaiian center for a new business. The main feature was a Hula dance show. They hired a coach (Matsuyuki Yasuko) to teach local girls professional Hula dance. The local girls were very naive and spoke in strong Tohoku accent (not stylish ). Their dance performance was terrible,whereas the coach from Tokyo was very cool, fashionable and confident, and her Hula dance was amazing and breath taking.Interestingly, local people were prejudiced against Hula dancers like strippers. One of the students said in the interview, "My tits are small. is it OK? It's very embarrassing, but I don't care because my father was fired, so I have to make money." The coach said," you don't have to be naked." When one girl put on her costume and showed her brothers and sisters at home and her father found them, he got really mad saying " what a shame! you are almost naked" and hit her many times and cut off her costume and hair. Local men were a sexist. That made the coach really angry and she went to a men's public bath and hit that father bathing in a bath saying "you don't have the right to do such a terrible thing." She was very strong.The coach was not a kind person and very strict, and sometimes critical to her students. But, she liked her students very much. They influenced each other. Their parents didn't accept that their daughters danced Hula, but in the end, they were re-conciliated and cheered them up. One mother said, " I thought working means to make money doing something tough or hard like to live or to die as your father has done. But after I saw you dance in front of people, what entertains people is also a job. This is also a feel-good movie where you can see relationship between the coach and her students, daughters and their parents.The ending was an excellent Hula dance show by local girls. It was amazing! But, I personally think the girl who danced solo (Aoi Yu) shouldn't have been that too slim. Hawaiian dance doesn't look great if the dancer is too slim.

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!