Hula Girl is based on a true story, which a female coach from Tokyo teaches Hula dance( Hawaiian dance) to girls living in a rural area to make them professional dancers for the Hawaiian Center. It is set in Fukushima Prefecture in Tohoku area about in 1965.
The place, Iwaki was famous for coal mines. At that time, coal was replaced by oil, so the coal mines were almost closed down and workers lost their job. So, some people decided to make a Hawaiian center for a new business. The main feature was a Hula dance show. They hired a coach (Matsuyuki Yasuko) to teach local girls professional Hula dance. The local girls were very naive and spoke in strong Tohoku accent (not stylish ). Their dance performance was terrible,whereas the coach from Tokyo was very cool, fashionable and confident, and her Hula dance was amazing and breath taking.
Interestingly, local people were prejudiced against Hula dancers like strippers. One of the students said in the interview, "My tits are small. is it OK? It's very embarrassing, but I don't care because my father was fired, so I have to make money." The coach said," you don't have to be naked." When one girl put on her costume and showed her brothers and sisters at home and her father found them, he got really mad saying " what a shame! you are almost naked" and hit her many times and cut off her costume and hair. Local men were a sexist. That made the coach really angry and she went to a men's public bath and hit that father bathing in a bath saying "you don't have the right to do such a terrible thing." She was very strong.
The coach was not a kind person and very strict, and sometimes critical to her students. But, she liked her students very much. They influenced each other. Their parents didn't accept that their daughters danced Hula, but in the end, they were re-conciliated and cheered them up. One mother said, " I thought working means to make money doing something tough or hard like to live or to die as your father has done. But after I saw you dance in front of people, what entertains people is also a job. This is also a feel-good movie where you can see relationship between the coach and her students, daughters and their parents.
The ending was an excellent Hula dance show by local girls. It was amazing! But, I personally think the girl who danced solo (Aoi Yu) shouldn't have been that too slim. Hawaiian dance doesn't look great if the dancer is too slim.
The place, Iwaki was famous for coal mines. At that time, coal was replaced by oil, so the coal mines were almost closed down and workers lost their job. So, some people decided to make a Hawaiian center for a new business. The main feature was a Hula dance show. They hired a coach (Matsuyuki Yasuko) to teach local girls professional Hula dance. The local girls were very naive and spoke in strong Tohoku accent (not stylish ). Their dance performance was terrible,whereas the coach from Tokyo was very cool, fashionable and confident, and her Hula dance was amazing and breath taking.
Interestingly, local people were prejudiced against Hula dancers like strippers. One of the students said in the interview, "My tits are small. is it OK? It's very embarrassing, but I don't care because my father was fired, so I have to make money." The coach said," you don't have to be naked." When one girl put on her costume and showed her brothers and sisters at home and her father found them, he got really mad saying " what a shame! you are almost naked" and hit her many times and cut off her costume and hair. Local men were a sexist. That made the coach really angry and she went to a men's public bath and hit that father bathing in a bath saying "you don't have the right to do such a terrible thing." She was very strong.
The coach was not a kind person and very strict, and sometimes critical to her students. But, she liked her students very much. They influenced each other. Their parents didn't accept that their daughters danced Hula, but in the end, they were re-conciliated and cheered them up. One mother said, " I thought working means to make money doing something tough or hard like to live or to die as your father has done. But after I saw you dance in front of people, what entertains people is also a job. This is also a feel-good movie where you can see relationship between the coach and her students, daughters and their parents.
The ending was an excellent Hula dance show by local girls. It was amazing! But, I personally think the girl who danced solo (Aoi Yu) shouldn't have been that too slim. Hawaiian dance doesn't look great if the dancer is too slim.