Magical Realism is a glorious subgenre of film. Where the fantastical occurs in an ordinary cinematic reality. The province of a great many South American writers and filmmakers, Shohei Imamura, creates a sweet and kinky Japanese faerie tale in the key of Magical Realism with Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, his last film.
Originally filmed and released in 2001, this movie is being re-released as part of a celebration of Imamura’s filmography. Dead as of 2006, Imamura was a fantastically inventive storyteller for the entirety of his long career. With Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, Imamura turns his powers of Imagineering to consider a family with a secret, sensual shame. The women of the Aizawa family are blessed/cursed with a wellspring of water in their bodies. This wellspring fills over the course of a month, and when full, it drives them to compete for insane acts. The only remedy is penetrative sex with a man they’re attracted to.
So we find Saeko Aizawa (The radiant and gorgeous Misa Shimizu) shoplifting at the local grocery store, full to the brim with mystical water. Yosuke Sasano (Koji Yokusho), a ne’er-do-well salesman looking for a job, finds the earring she left behind in the store and brings them to her. This leads to a deeply intimate act of thanks, wherein Saeko is released of her magic water, and the water warms the river under the eponymous red bridge and brings forth all manner of life, including saltwater fish. At one point, a local pensioner catches a flounder(!) in an allegedly freshwater river. These sex acts of fertilizing the earth and the water break the film into five chapters.
“…leads to a deeply intimate act of thanks, wherein Saeko is released of her magic water…”
For a culture that views sex as shameful, this Japanese film does not shy away from a crisp, clean framing of each and every sex act. While we do not, thankfully, watch the full biological actions taking place, it’s quite clear Saeko and Yosuke have five intimate moments, deepening the love bond between the pair of them. This is a beautiful film and a very delightful faerie tale.
The acting is superb. The entire ensemble brings us into the quirky and sometimes kinky reality of this little town to the south of Tokyo. I especially enjoyed the African runner training for the Japanese marathon. His coach follows him everywhere on a 10-speed bicycle. Or the elderly pensioners catching all manner of unexpected fish. Or even the ghost of Yosuke’s former friend, Taro (Kazuo Kitamura), visiting to give him encouragement to seek a treasure of his. Or the geyser that releases every time Saeko releases and orgasms. Such delightful, fantastical, yet realistic things to observe.
This is a warm, uplifting romance. It plays out the way most Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn romances did. Seek this out if you enjoy a good, if kinky, romantic film. It simply has to be experienced. Also, this is the last work of a renowned Japanese filmmaker. You owe it to yourself to watch a wholesome, if sexy film like this.
