Monday, December 29, 2014


Movie Review

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001)

September 29, 2001

FILM FESTIVAL REVIEWS; You'll Enjoy Her Company If You Wear Your Galoshes

Published: September 29, 2001

''Warm Water Under a Red Bridge'' is the Japanese filmmaker Shohei Imamura's tribute to the concept of release, and for Saeko (Misa Shimizu) that euphoria is an expulsion of water from her body. At this orgasmic eruption, fish gather at her feet, and during peak moments she lets loose a freshet with the pressure of a fire hydrant.

The sight leaves Yosuke (Koji Yakusho) in a state of simultaneous awe and desire and the local fishermen extremely pleased. When Yosuke first glimpses the clear puddles at Saeko's feet, his eyebrows lift at her unusual response when she compulsively steals cheese in a little fishing town. It's as if Yosuke, unemployed and at loose ends, who is searching for a stolen Buddha hidden near a red bridge, has been hand picked by Fate to become a part of her life.

Mr. Imamura's fascination with the physical representation of emotion, particularly guilt, cuts a wide swath through this film, though it could also be found in some of his previous work. The bridge in the title of this lurid and less than lucid work -- he's trafficking heavily in visual metaphor -- hobbles the film.

It's as if he were trying to create a mythopoetic version of what some consider to be a pornographic classic, the Mitchell Brothers' insane ''Grafenberg Spot,'' in which Niagara Falls was uncorked whenever Ginger Lynn found satisfaction. Saeko also demands satisfaction, and Yosuke, who's in the middle of a divorce, eagerly complies.

There are complications that would never have occurred to the Mitchell Brothers, if only because they never found, um, actors. In ''Bridge,'' being shown tonight and tomorrow as part of the New York Film Festival, Saeko's face is taut with shame. She steals cheese, an object of her obsession. (Her perpetual chanting of the word takes on a religious fervor, another way for her to find happiness and eventually salvation.)

Many of the ''Bridge'' characters are stricken with guilt. Yosuke is hamstrung by it and is living with a group of other broke and desperate fishermen at the outset. Saeko's grandmother (Mitsuko Baisho) has been abandoned by her lover, and she pines for his return. Saeko's mother drowned, and Saeko is full of survivor's guilt, and water.

Mr. Imamura's pursuit of guilt as a glue that binds like-minded spirits could be seen in his unforgettable 1998 film, ''The Eel,'' in which characters linked by a crime sought spiritual escape and succor.

The talented Ms. Shimizu, the director's muse, was in ''The Eel,'' which also featured Mr. Imamura's skill in creating a community of eccentrics. A recurring bit here with a marathoner in training is reminiscent of a scene with athletes sprinting through the small fishing village in ''The Eel.''

Mr. Imamura sifts through a lot of history to develop explanations for his characters' emotional states. In this respect this masterly director is following the tradition of another master, Yasujiro Ozu, whose films are the ne plus ultra of lean, dry family drama (though dry literally isn't the word to apply to this film).

''Bridge'' plays like a nutty psychological mystery; when the waters stop, anger and resentment cause the villagers' bliss to shrivel. The problem is that the unraveling of the root of Saeko's condition isn't nearly as interesting as the phenomenon itself. The silliness of the floods she unleashes washes away any attempt at narrative completion. You might think that the orgasmic device Mr. Imamura uses is so potent that it has given him a form of performance anxiety. In the end he doesn't come through.


Directed by Shohei Imamura; written (in Japanese, with English subtitles) by Motofumi Tomikawa, Daisuke Tengan and Mr. Imamura, based on the novel by Henmi Yo; director of photography, Shigeru Komatsubara; edited by Hajime Okayasu; music by Shinichiro Ikebe; production designer, Hisao Inagaki; produced by Hisa Iino; released by Cowboy Booking International. Running time: 119 minutes. This film is not rated. Shown tonight at 6:30 and tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall, at Lincoln Center, as part of the 39th New York Film Festival.

WITH: Koji Yakusho (Yosuke), Misa Shimizu (Saeko), Mitsuko Baisho (Mitsu), Mansaku Fuwa (Gen), Kazuo Kitramura (Taro), Isao Natsuyagi (Masayuki), Yukiya Kitamura (Shintaro) and Hijiri Kojima (Miki).

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