Hula Girls

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.

Between 1966 and 1970 I was stationed at Misawa AFB in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. I had a car and traveled a lot. Eventually went to the Joban Hawaiian Center at the suggestion of a Japanese friend and fell in love with the place. I made the JHC my main spot for R&R after that and even scheduled several trips there for my coworkers.

This movie is NOT a comedy, in my mind, but a true life story about overcoming tragedy. I went to the JHC very often and the dancers and staff got to know me well. Between performances I often drank coke with the Hula dancers and on one visit I was asked to help a male-female duet with the pronunciation of the words for "The Hawaiian Wedding Song". I watch this movie every chance I get and it always brings tears to my eyes. The Joban Hawaiian center is one of the reasons I eventually spent 30 years teaching English in Japan (returned to the U.S. in Feb. 2014).

This is one of my favorite movie. It contains nice relationships among people in country side, a little bit comedy yet heart warming.

Girls living in Hukushima prefecture including Kumiko, played by Yu Aoi decided to work as a dancer to save people's live there. Those days around Showa40 year, their life style was going to be changed, and it meant people in Kumiko's village were going to lose their work. Instead of that, they try to built a big entertainer, "Resort Hawaiians". That's why they try hard to be a fine dancers to work there as "Hula girls"!! However, it's not easy to manage it through some problems. Villager are used to work as coal miner, even through they have some dead in mine, and also it's hard for Kumiko and her mates to master Hula which they had not know at all. Can they dance? Can they save people? What's become of them? I believe you can enjoy not only story, but also one of Japanese dialects.This is what I, Japanese student says, so you can be sure to enjoy interesting Japanese. It obviously shows Japanese dialect! Do not miss it!

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.

Make no mistake about it, this is a Japanese comedy, with few ties to Hawaii. But that doesn't take away from the fact the film is wonderfully scored, believably acted, and a fun, entertaining movie. Screened for the first time in the U.S. in October 2006 as the finale gala extravaganza at the Hawaii International Film Festival (#1 Asian festival & one of world's 10 best overall now), many hula teachers and Hawaii fans may have feared this movie might take a less- than-serious-enough view of the sacred Hawaiian dance. But, upon viewing this light-hearted comedy, critics had to sit back and appreciate just how loyal the film remained to the Japanese interpretation of hula. Japanese view hula as a dance, and Hawaii as a warm tropical paradise in much the same way American filmmakers viewed Hawaii in the 1950s. Viewers, even kumu hula and critics, shouldn't forget that this is a film about that Japanese interpretation - at that time, and not impose upon it the serious more cultural aspects a current movement in Hawaii is bringing back to the dance. In fact, the director of "Hula Garu" successfully gets away with this by making the film a comedy, and never trying to delve into the historical, religious, or other cultural dimensions of hula. While not true to today's view of hula in Hawaii, this film is not about today, or Hawaii. It's about an obscure little town in northern Japan that created a Hawaiian village concept, complete with its own hula troupe to attract tourists and save the town from extinction. Several heart warming moments in this 'To Sir With Love,' teacher-conquers- impossible-odds themed story bring tears to the spectators' eyes. And the music could hardly have been more perfect to help accentuate those emotional moments. Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro's score is perfect, and likely to win awards, and possibly even help make Jake a household name on the U.S. mainland, as it already has become in many circles in Japan. The film's screenplay successfully draws the audience into the characters in a way that forces even the most critical hula fans to forgive the film's small imperfections. The only strong disappointment I had about the film was how it confused hula and Tahitian dancing. On the other hand, that's a common misconception that all Hawaii visitors make, since hula troups almost always perform both types of dances in public. So, in a sense, the film is true to the way Japanese and tourists perceive hula, if not to hula itself. This film is not a film about Hawaii or hula dancing; but a comedy about how Japanese have adopted this wonderful dance in its own way, while respecting the Hawaiian culture in doing so. Keeping that in mind, viewers will have little to critique and everything to enjoy about this film, the acting, and the wonderful music. Overall, this is a fun, enjoyable family movie which deserves to be seen on the big screen. Don't wait to rent the video. See it in a theater and feel the energy, the music, and the strange story that began Japan's growing love for Hawaii's greatest export.