One of the more uniquely titled movies of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is a beautiful, vibrant, quirky, weird, imaginative, and genuinely moving portrait of moving on from devastating loss and the ways in which art and romance can help facilitate that healing.
From filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! follows Haru (Rinko Kikuchi), a passionate ballroom dancer grieving the sudden loss of her partner and dancing partner Luis (Alejandro Edda). Nine months later, Haru’s two sisters Hiromi (You) and Yuki (Yoh Yoshida) coax Haru into the dancing scene, where sparks fly between her and her new dance instructor Fedir (Alberto Guerra).
Brimming with spirit for every moment of its admittedly lengthy runtime, Wladyka’s film never ceases to tug at the heartstrings and generate some hearty chuckles, often in the same breath. His movie anchors its emotional weight early on with lovely scenes between Haru and Luis that quickly foster audience investment in their relationship and, shortly after, devastation upon its fracturing.
Struggling to come to terms with her devastating loss, Haru is pulled out of her self-imposed isolation by her sisters, one quiet and conservative, and the other sexually risqué and unafraid to throw curse words around like it’s nothing. The two make for quirky, offbeat side characters who pop in and out of Haru’s whirlwind romance.
While often played for laughs, Haru’s infatuation with Fedir finds Wladyka interestingly commenting on the guilt and shame of moving on from losing a loved one. Haru adores Luis, yet is drawn to the strapping, talented Fedir, who just so happens to be in an open marriage. How does one grapple with such a juxtaposition, especially when one option is what her heart yearns for and the other is breaking her heart? Grief is one of the most explored themes in cinema history, yet Wladyka approaches it with admirable creativity here.
To reflect Haru’s newfound fixation, Wladyka populates his film with eccentric vision sequences that take the form of exciting, elaborate dance numbers. Although already vibrant every step of the way, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! truly comes alive during these dance numbers, which Wladyka shoots in a way that allows the performers’ strong handling of the choreography to shine.
Beyond its myriad of vision sequences, the film embraces eccentricity with a number of other oddities. A human-sized black bird pops up to represent the burden Haru carries following the death of her husband (a bird-en, if you will), and an entire chapter of the film, revolving around the Day of the Dead, takes (and succeeds at hitting) some relatively big thematic swings and bold character choices.
Powering the film from start to finish with remarkable physicality, heart, and anguish is Rinko Kikuchi. Kikuchi captures the push and pull of bereavement so effectively, especially in scenes where she is enjoying herself with Fedir, only to be drawn to memories of her late husband. The supporting cast doesn’t have a weak player among it, but Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! is firmly Kikuchi’s film.
As it winds down, it becomes clear just how emotionally impactful a film Wladyka has created, a stirring meditation on grief with more than enough humor, romance, style, and eccentricity to dance its way into your heart and stay there for a while.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! made its Canadian premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The film is released in U.S. theaters on September 25, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.