Terumae romae

"Thermae Romae" is a Comedy - Fantasy movie in which we watch a Roman architect transported to modern-day Japan where he learns a lot and gain reputation and money when he is going back home.

I enjoyed this movie because it had a simple but interesting plot that contained plenty of humorous scenes, something that elevated the movie. The interpretations of both Hiroshi Abe who played as Lucius and Aya Ueto who played as Mami were very good and their combination worked very well. In addition to this, the direction which was made by Hideki Takeuchi was also very good and he presented his main characters in a very clever way in order for the audience to relate to them and follow them along their story. All in all, I have to say that "Thermae Romae" is a nice comedy movie and I recommend everyone to watch it because I am sure you will laugh and you will have a great time.

This movie was one of the Gala screenings at the 2012 Toronto Intl Film Festival. Unfortunately I did not manage to secure a ticket and also did not get to meet Abe-san who was there to greet fans before the show. Luckily it was one of the inflight movies on Air Canada on my way to HK, and I got to see it then. Normally on such a small screen, it would affect my enjoyment however for this particular movie, I was laughing a lot and must say one of the best comedies (with a bit of romance) I have ever seen!The music (opera) was perfect for the film, the cast especially Abe was excellent, as well as the entire production (the Rome set was impressive). If you want to have two hours of fun, this is THE movie to go to. You won't regret it :) ENJOY! I look forward to October 4 for its release in Hong Kong. You bet I want to see it again, this time on a big screen with big sound!

A bath architect from ancient Rome keeps drowning and appearing in baths in modern Japan, get back to his own time and recreates the baths of the modern world in the best ways he can. The film is as crazy as it sounds from the plot and manages to be hilarious throughout. I didn't mind the minor problems it had in terms of the production. White actors speaking in English being dubbed over, while Japanese actors cast as Romans speaking Japanese looked weird and there were some special effects that were a bit tacky but it all went with the tone of the film. The recreation of ancient Rome itself has been done pretty well. The concept of innovation and the morale of the public psyche being connected to baths is not something you associate all the time but it does make sense. I love these types of crazy storylines.

Lucius Modestus (Hiroshi Abe) is a hardworking bath builder in ancient Rome, but he's behind the times and no longer getting work. He can only think when under water and one day at the baths, under water, he sees something bubbling; when he investigates, he is sucked into a vortex that suddenly thrusts him out of the water.... and into a bath-house in modern-day Japan! Assuming that all the "Flat-Faced Clan" are slaves, he marvels at the bath and water-related technology available to them; he becomes emotional at the taste of a "milk-fruit" drink and soon finds himself back in Rome. But now he's back in Rome with new ideas for baths, and it isn't long before his fame bring him to the attention of Emperor Hadrianus (Masachika Ichimura). Meanwhile, young Mami (Aya Ueto) has failed in her quest to become a published manga star, and she's fired when she lets Lucius escape from his first modern-day adventure. Seeing him, she has found her new hero – to draw, that is – and she can only hope that he will appear again. As, of course, he does, several times.... When I read the description of this film, I knew it was going to be top of my list for 2013 FantAsia films to see, and I was very much not disappointed in it; the very premise is hilarious (did you know, for example, that ancient Romans all spoke Japanese and, well, most of them were Japanese? Or that an ancient Roman would, when asked the year, casually reply, "it's 135 AD"? Totally goofy, with a touch of romance besides, by the end even dour Lucius has a smile on his face. I hope I can find this on DVD, is all I can say!

Whopping temerity abounds in Hideki Takeuchi's THERMAE ROMAE, an adaptation of Mari Yamazaki's massively popular eponymous manga series, which is parlayed into a gigantic box-office smash hit, Japan's second highest-grossing domestic film in 2012 and also spawns a sequel.

In this time-travel cock and bull story, an Ancient Roman architect Lucius Modestus (Abe) multiply stumbles upon present world in Japan through magic watery portals which the movie gives no explication whatsoever. Lucius takes his cue from mod cons to improve his design of Roman baths, which is pertinently yoked to the historical process of the Roman Empire under the reign of the peripatetic Emperor Hadrian (Ichimura), not only does Lucius' copied private bath console the emperor's loss of Antinous in 130, but his discovery of therapeutic hot springs is able to miraculously heal the wounds and dissipate the fatigue of jaded Roman warriors as well, which in turn, secures Antoninus (Shishido)'s standing as Hadrian's successor, to the chagrin of the obnoxious skirt-chaser Ceionius (Kitamura). It is all thanks to Japanese bathing culture, that human history doesn't go astray in the wrong hands, temerity, yes, but also innately droll....

read my full review on the blog: cinema omnivore