Great Visuals and Enticing Moments but Ultimately Left Me Wanting
10 Dance started off well then lagged a bit in the middle and finally did pull off some of the anticipated emotional moments. Ryoma Takeuchi is physically stunning and he is adept at switching from exuberant dominance to a sensitive and vulnerable man in his roles. Keita Machida’s nuanced performance which was revealed through his body language and his eyes is a marvel to behold. Shiori Doi and Anna Ishii make the most of their subordinate roles with perfect grace and honest emotions. Where this was lacking for me was in two areas. First, the slow build attraction sets up expectations for the viewer but when Sugiki turns and rushes down to the train, enters the car and kisses Suzuki, this was the moment when there should have been a leaning in to the erotica. Instead, we are treated to a chaotic “dance” scene that broke the tension. This approach and retreat I realize was used for a reason in the movie but it left me wanting. Second, we know from the dialogue that dance is love yet I only saw brief moments of the love and joy of dancing in the honor dance. The majority of it displayed attraction for a partner. Overall I enjoyed the movie but found myself comparing it to Shall We Dance (1996) with Koji Yakusho. His character is initially drawn to the dance studio by lust; however, he is soon captivated by dance itself and falls in love with the joy of dancing.
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