Terumae romae (2012)

Lucius, a Roman architect, is transported through time to modern-day Japan, where he learns about Japanese bathhouses and uses this to his gain back home.

Director:

Hideki Takeuchi

Writers:

Mari Yamazaki (manga), Shôgo Mutô (screenplay)

Stars:

Hiroshi Abe, Aya Ueto, Kazuki Kitamura

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hiroshi Abe	...	Lucius
Aya Ueto	...	Mami
Kazuki Kitamura	...	Ceionius
Riki Takeuchi	...	Tateno
Kai Shishido	...	Antoninus
Midoriko Kimura	...	Mami's mom
Katsuya	...	Marcus
Bunmei Tobayama	...	Kishimoto
Kei Iinuma
Tarô Iwate	...	Mogami
Takao Kinoshita
Hachirô Ika	...	Old man
Hiroshi Kanbe
Katsuhiro Nagano
Shungiku Uchida	...	Manga artist Michiko Hirai

Storyline

Ancient Roman architect Lucius is too serious. His inability to keep up with the fast-moving times costs him his job. When a friend takes the dejected Lucius to the public bathhouse to cheer him up, Lucius accidentally slips through time and resurfaces in a modern-day public bath in Japan. There, he meets aspiring young manga artist Mami, along with others of the "flat-faced clan". Shocked by the many inventive aspects of Japan's bathing culture, Lucius returns to ancient Rome and garners tremendous attention when he implements these novel ideas back in Rome. As he time-slips back and forth between ancient Rome and modern-day Japan, Lucius' reputation as the ingenious, new bath architect begins to grow.

---

Plot Keywords:

live action remake of anime | time travel | two word title | based on manga | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan Italy

Language:

Japanese Latin

Release Date:

28 April 2012 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Thermae Romae

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$73,012,751

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dentsu, Enterbrain, Filmmakers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Terumae romae (2012)

User Reviews

A gleeful if frivolous potboiler mines into Japan's prevalent kuso culture

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