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/
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