Masayuki Suo directs ballet-based “Dancing Chaplin”

The next film from director Masayuki Suo (“Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai”) has been revealed. Titled “Dancing Chaplin,” the movie will star Suo’s wife, former ballerina Tamiyo Kusakari (45). She is best known in cinema for playing the female lead opposite Koji Yakusho (54) in Suo’s 1996 hit “Shall We Dance?” (which also led to her marriage with Suo).

Kusakari is actually co-starring with the internationally-known dancer Luigi Bonino (60). The film is an adaptation of Roland Petit’s ballet “Chaplin,” based on the works of famous silent film star Charlie Chaplin. Suo’s adaptation consists of two portions – the “approach,” which covers the process of making the film, and the actual ballet, which was filmed last July in a studio in Tokyo. Kusakari had never danced the “Chaplin” ballet before, but for Suo’s sake she took on a total of six different roles for the film, including Chaplin.

Kusakari retired from professional dancing in April 2009, but Suo decided that he wanted the theme of his next movie to be ballet. Kusakari agreed to star, and Suo recruited both Bonino and Petit for the film. Both appear in the “approach” segment as they discuss the ballet, and Bonino is one of the dancers accompanying Kusakari during the ballet segment.

“Dancing Chaplin” is expected to hit theaters in spring 2011.

Source:
Sankei Sports