Movie Review: "Thermae Romae" (Takeuchi Hideki, 2012)

A COMEDY FIRST AND FOREMOST by Eric Evans

Left: Abe Hiroshi

in a scene from the film

 

 

 

 

Lucius has it rough. As a bath architect in ancient Rome he's expected to design palaces of relaxation but he's out of ideas; younger, more creative rivals are eking him out of a living. Until, that is, he is sucked into an underwater vortex that transports him to 21st century Japan where sento (bathhouse) culture has been refined into an art in almost every neighborhood. Amazed by what he sees and learns, he travels back and forth through time translating contemporary Japanese concepts to Roman baths, making himself the toast of the town. But what about that young woman he keeps bumping into in the future…

            “Thermae Romae” was a huge hit in the 2012 Japanese box office and it's easy to see why: director Hideki Takeuchi, known for his TV work on wildly popular shows such as Nodame Cantabile (which also spawned two feature films), brings a deftly light touch to the proceedings. The pace is brisk and the cast—headlined by a never-better Abe Hiroshi as Lucius and Ueto Aya as Mami, the young woman who keeps bumping into him during his expeditions into Japan—is uniformly good. Mr. Abe will be familiar to festival circuit regulars and the Criterion crowd from his roles in Kore-eda Hirokazu's films such as 2009's “Still Walking”; J-film buffs will know him from his comedic turns in the Trick films as well as another time-travel comedy, “Bubble Fiction.” His Lucius is imperious, curious, confused, and charming. He is perhaps the closest thing Japan has to George Clooney and this role features him to his best advantage. He won the 2012 Japanese Academy Award for this role and it's easy to see why.

            Like so many other Japanese features, “Thermae Romae” is based on a manga—a series of comic books. Unlike American comic books, however, manga are typically read by people of all ages and more often than not reflect a decidedly non-superheroic bent. The tone of “Thermae Romae” is light and breezy. It's a comedy first and foremost, and there are plenty of laughs.

            If you're curious about what the average Japanese sees in the theater on a Friday night, here you go: “Thermae Romae” is a well executed commercial film that serves as a fine introduction to contemporary mainstream Japanese cinema comedy.

            “Thermae Romae” shows at the Whitsell Auditoreum Tuesday, December 10 at 7 pm and Wednesday, December 11 at 7 pm as part of the NW Film Center's annual Japanese Currents program. For more information about this and other screenings, visit http://nwfilm.org/