Overlooked Foreign Films: Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

by Ari

The last film by master filmmaker Shohei Imamura is just as idiosyncratic as the work that began his career. Imamura had always shown a talent for off-beat comedy (see The Pornographers), especially in bizarre and often serious settings (see The Eel). With Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, Imamura concluded his career with a comedy that retains his trademark sensibilities while being entirely accessible for mainstream audiences.

Well, sort of.

At its heart, the film is a very sweet and emotional romance between two very unlikely characters, with a particularly odd fantasy element thrown into the mix. It’s this element that might be difficult for some viewers to discern, and there’s no doubt that it takes some time to adjust to. But that’s Imamura for you - constantly pushing the envelope no matter what type of film he’s working on, serious or comedic, art or entertainment. Unlike most of his early work, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge is an extremely light and joyous affair with an interest in the beauties of the human spirit instead of its wretchedness. The film is heartfelt and moving, a classically told story that feels like a final farewell to the art-form that Imamura loved most. As one character happily puts it while addressing the audience at the conclusion of the film, “you know it’s impossible!” It certainly is, but that doesn’t prevent the film from being so immensely enjoyable. Out of all the under-appreciated foreign films from this decade on this list, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge is easily the most purely entertaining.

Yosuke (the always fantastic Koji Yakusho) is a businessman who loses his job and searches desperately for any work that will help support himself and his wife and child. Yosuke has become a bit distant from his family, so he spends much of his time hanging around an old man who lives with his books and other belongings on the docks in Tokyo. This man, called Taro (Kazuo Kitamura), likes to ramble about philosophy and mystical tales and so on. Before his death he tells Yosuke of a valuable statue he left behind in a mysterious house located past a red bridge in a sea-side village. Feeling like he has nothing better to do, Yosuke travels to the village to collect this treasure, only to discover something far more unusual than expected. He meets a woman named Saeko (Misa Shimizu - who co-starred with Koji Yakusho in Imamura’s The Eel), who has a very bizarre condition.

Now this is where the film may turn off the unprepared viewer. Enormous amounts of water well up inside of Saeko’s body, and the only way she can release the pressure is by indulging in something wicked. At first, Yosuke notices a puddle of water under her feet as she steals a few products from the market. But it’s later at her home that he discovers her real desire. After he’s introduced to her grandmother, she takes him upstairs and they politely converse for a few minutes. After Yosuke mentions the situation he noticed at the market, Saeko’s insecurities rise, the water wells up and she immediately grabs him to have sex. Now it’s through sex that Saeko is able to fully vent, and this release is literally an explosion of water that drenches them both as she climaxes. After this peculiar development, Yosuke decides to stick around and figure out who she is, a relationship blossoms and past issues for both characters are explored. The chemistry between the two leads is brilliant, and their excellent performances give the film its substance. For something so absurd, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge is actually surprisingly emotional. While the film isn’t one of Imamura’s best, it’s still one of the most satisfying and underrated Japanese films of the last few years.

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