Grief can be weird and funny sometimes. For example, when I turned up to my grandmother's funeral years ago, I didn't wear a black dress, because I didn't own one.
I was going through a phase where I was avoiding black in anything, save for one pencil skirt that had a white print of octopus tentacles climbing up the side. So, I wore that skirt with a white top. When my cousin saw me, she took in my outfit head to toe, then smiled tightly at me, as if she were biting her tongue. She was dressed all in black formalwear. I self-consciously explained why I was wearing such non-traditional attire, and she replied, "Gram would have said, 'Well, that sure is something."
I laughed. Then she laughed, and then we cried and hugged. My Gram's back-handed compliments were deeply woven into our family tapestry. Imagining what she might say if she'd been there was a spark of joy we both needed, even if it came with a bit of a sting. But there was something healing imagining it all the same.
I thought of this moment while watching Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! Co-written by Nicholas Huynh and Josef Kubota Wladyka, and helmed by the latter, this movie walks the line of comedy and drama, aptly reflecting how grief can bring tears and sparks of odd laughter, sometimes at the same time. And what a wonderful something to bring to cinemas!
What is Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! about?
Pacific Rim's Rinko Kikuchi stars as Haru, a Japanese woman who loves to dance. She and her adoring Mexican husband, Luis (Alejandro Edda) share this love, competing in the Amateur Latin Senior in Tokyo, where they live. Together, they cha-cha happily, though not masterfully. And Wladyka captures Haru's bliss in this experience by showing us how she imagines them floating together, gracefully ascending from the dance floor as if they could cha-cha-cha all the way to heaven.
But then, Luis falls back slowly but relentlessly. His hand leaves her grip. His body hits the floor. His heart seizes in its final beats. The inciting incident is Luis' death, leaving Haru alone and unable to reconnect to her life or love of dance without him. That is, until her sensible sister Yuki (Yoh Yoshida) and chaotic cousin Hiromi (YOU) show up, lovingly bullying "Ha-Chan" (as she's endearingly nicknamed) to get back in the groove.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a love story.
It's Hiromi who delivers the title line, urging Haru to join her family at a dance class taught by a beguiling instructor named Fedir (Alberto Guerra). No sooner does Haru see this fleet-footed dancer than we're once more whisked into her romantic imagination, where she envisions him taking her into his arms for a sexy spin around the floor.
More fantasies will follow, as will some well-intentioned lies. When Haru learns through the rumor mill that Fedir is in an open marriage, she decides to pursue him. But rather than confessing her loss and heartache over Luis, she says she, too, is in an open marriage.
Much like my cousin and I once did, Haru imagines how her lost loved one might respond to her actions posthumously. And Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! follows her imagination by allowing Luis to come back, in a sense. She sees him return to their home, wearing a kawaii costume of a crow. He bops about, an adorable yet bittersweet reminder of her husband. But later, as she gets closer to Fedir, she dreams of them meeting each other, discussing Luis' record collection over a glass of whiskey. In this fantasy, there's no jealously, only mutual appreciation, as both look lovingly to Haru. Then, in a move that will thrill the Heated Rivalry crowd, a MLM kiss will come, much to Haru's pleasure. And while a kinky delight, this scene also gently illustrates that Haru is not looking to replace her husband, but is seeking to understand how to move on.
Of course, grief is a wild thing. So, not all of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is spicy fantasy or spirited musical numbers. (Though there is a detour through a Japanese stage production of Dirty Dancing that's pretty dang delightful.) As Haru begins to catch feelings for Fedir, things get messy. Her decisions go from bad to bonkers. Yet while she becomes a fool for love, the filmmakers' delicate care for her characterization and Kikuchi's compelling performance prevent us from judging her. Instead, perhaps in her outrageous journey in coping with grief, we may see ourselves. For who among us hasn't gotten bizarre in their mourning?
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a feel-good movie and a tearjerker.
Props to Wladyka. Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! refuses to be simply a comedy or a drama. Its story feels firmly situated in the latter camp, as the film at its core is about a widower struggling to find a reason to live. However, Haru is a heroine full of passion and quirks. Her movie, therefore, reflects that, never losing touch with her joy or silliness, even when things turn tragic. For instance, when jealousy spurs her to lash out at Fedir's wife, the resulting domino effect involves a bit of home invasion with perhaps the most comical conclusions imaginable.
Elsewhere, this chaotic collision of pain and joy takes the shape of Haru hanging out with her supportive sisterhood. You is a particularly lively addition to the cast, bringing plenty of moxie and physical comedy that play as a terrific foil to Kikuchi's performance, which carries an ingenue's sweetness with a hint of mature heartache. But Guerra also deserves props, ably shifting from the romantic ideal Haru imagines to the messier man Fedir really is. All of these performances tangle into a charming choreography, both literal and metaphorical, making for a movie that is a true crowd-pleaser, while reflecting some tricky truths about life and death.
You'll laugh. You'll cringe. You'll cry. And I suspect you'll love Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will open in theaters on Sept. 25
