Terumae romae

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!

I saw it as provocative, sweet and...pretty boring between the travels of poor architect are not only repetitive but, in some measure, pretty childish.

But the idea is seductive and , reminding the emotion of childhood about adventure - historical books, just smart used. And the humor, like providential romance, the parallel between cultures , ore than Japaneses talking Latin are not so insignificant.

Indeed, in few moments I perceived Terumae romae as just delightful and, in some measure, it is little more, for acting, for atmosphere, for ingenuity of slices of story and for noble intentions as axis of a sweet - pretty nice film about pretentions of powerful men and the sources of inspiration for a correct architect.

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

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!

This short film is about the story of Lucious, a roman architect, who leapt through time to modern Japan which makes him gain experiences and knowledge of building hot spring so he can apply these knowledge to Roman hot spring. First off, I like the plot of this film. it is very creative and different from other time-traveling films that I have ever watched. This movie is totally an entertainment since you do not have to think about the action of characters or why it happened too much but just enjoy the film. The plot is not complicated. The main actor of this film looks so alike with Roman people even he is Japanese. However, this movie is originated from comic book. So, there are some parts that might be frustrating to watch. For example, the movie itself is more like a gag cartoon that are divided into episodes. So, each apart of the film is not continue with other parts. Also, I don't really feel like it is necessary to have a female character who is the second main actor of this film in this movie in this film and forcibly put romantic plot between Lucious and that female character.