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Review

A bizarre comedy-cum-allegorical drama from 75-year-old filmmaker Shohei Imamura, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge offers quite an outrageous premise. But keep reading! Yosuke (Yakusho) is a middle-aged businessman who has lost it all: job, family, self-worth. He wanders the streets of Tokyo. On the advice of an old tramp Yosuke befriends, he travels to the remote village on the Noto peninsula in search of a golden Buddha his friend says is hidden in an old wooden house next to a red bridge. He finds the house and discovers that the occupants are a senile old lady and her granddaughter, the beautiful Saeko (Shimizu). After following Saeko and seeing her shoplift cheese from a local market, Yosuke approaches her. She reveals that she has a condition in which water builds up in her body uncontrollably (and in huge amounts) and that only the excitement of stealing or sex can dislodge it. Bewildered but definitely excited by her condition, he begins an affair – a relationship that involves lots of sex, lots of orgasmicly gushing water and a fair amount of towels and buckets! The water then flows into the nearby river and on the way makes flowers bloom and attracts fish and happy fishermen to the enriched waters. With a new lease on life, Yosuke discovers a different kind of treasure in this tale, that is told in whimsical fashion and imbued with impish, magical realism. (Japanese with English subtitles)