Akai hashi no shita no nurui mizu (2001)

A down-and-out businessman travels to a seaside town, where he meets a woman with unusual sexual powers.

Director:

Shôhei Imamura

Writers:

Yo Henmi (novel), Shôhei Imamura

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Misa Shimizu, Mitsuko Baishô

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Yosuke Sasano
Misa Shimizu	...	Saeko Aizawa
Mitsuko Baishô	...	Mitsu Aizawa
Mansaku Fuwa	...	Gen
Isao Natsuyagi	...	Masayuki Uomi
Yukiya Kitamura	...	Shintaro Uomi
Hijiri Kojima	...	Mika Tagami
Toshie Negishi	...	Tomoko Sasano
Sumiko Sakamoto	...	Masako Yamada
Taka Guadalcanal	...	Taizo Tachibana
Mickey Curtis	...	Nobuyuki Ohnishi
Takao Yamada	...	Kazuo Namamura
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Takao Yamada
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Taro

Storyline

An impossible tale. Taro, an old man who dies homeless in Tokyo has told Yosuke, a weak-willed out-of-work salaryman about a golden statue that he left years ago in a house by the sea in Noto. Yosuke goes and he's captivated by Saeko, a young women who lives in the house where Taro left the statue. She has a strange affliction: water builds up in her and she can only vent it by wicked acts, such as shoplifting, or, more powerfully, through orgasm. Yosuke obliges, the water gives him life, as well as the plants and fish it reaches. Saeko feels shame, and she has a past. Taro's ghost urges Yosuke to fulfill his desires, but can the relationship survive?

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Plot Keywords:

statue | water | shoplifting | desire | female ejaculation | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Nikkatsu Corporation [Japan]

Country:

Japan France

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 November 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Lauw water onder een rode brug

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,842, 5 May 2002, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$62,044, 3 November 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

BAP Inc., Catherine Dussart Productions (CDP), Comme des Cinémas

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Dr. Akagi (1998)

User Reviews

strange elements effortlessly weaved together

Imamura does here what Neil Jordan does in Crying Game; he takes two seemingly incongruous elements, fetishistic sexual obsession and contemporary socio-political malaise, and weaves them effortlessly together. Imamura's rigorously geometric framing contrasts with the feathery- light content of the tale. Having said that, there are some gritty moments here; a drowning born of insanity is rendered in stark black-and-white, and the social plight of Japan's cast-aside middle-aged salarymen is emblematically captured in Yakusho's performance. However, at heart this is a fun movie that surprises and delights. It is all about the mise-en-scene, perfectly delivered each time by Imamura and the principles. The film does flag at the end; it felt like they opted to go for melodrama purely because the allotted time was running out. The previous two acts make up for that third-act missed beat. One gripe is that the edition I bought had no Extras apart from the theatrical trailer. I would have liked a Making Of to confirm my suspicion that this film was as much fun to make as it is to watch. It must have been murder for cast and crew to keep a straight face during those venting scenes...