paul2001sw-1 The wintry Japanese landscape forms an attractive backdrop to a working town in 'Warm Water Under a Red Bridge'; but although I enjoyed the cinematography, I suspect this is may not what most people would notice about this film. For it's an utterly strange affair, although its combination of supernatural oddness, sexual content and deadpan style may seem familiar to the readers of Haruki Murakami. And while there's s lot that's appealing in its storyline, with its mixture of the everyday and the wholly bizarre, fundamentally the whole thing is just a little too weird; that is, it's strangeness seems to serve no ultimate point except to be shocking, although to give it credit, the shocks are of a wholly original kind. Still, I couldn't take it seriously enough to stay interested.

CountZero313 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...

screaminmimi It's sad to know there will be no more new Imamura films. I think the previous reviewer is probably lacking a sense of fun. This isn't drivel; it's wicked fun. In the same way he dissects small-town vs. big-city attitudes in "The Eel," Imamura shows us how disconnected from real life the corporate world of Tokyo can make a man by thrusting him into the chaos of joblessness where everything he knows is useless. This is an opportunity to see the ever-hot Koji Yakusho at his James Stewart/Buster Keatonesque best in a story that's worthy of García-Márquez, for its utterly plausible mix of the other-worldly with the down-to-earth. I gave it a 9 out of 10 because Imamura seems to be mystified enough by women that he doesn't flesh out their characters as much as they might deserve, but the mystification is part of the story in this case. Great score, too!

Tilly Gokbudak I must admit to discovering Imamora only recently. He has all the vivid cinematic detail, the edginess of Oshima, and the humor of Itami; but he is a unique and original master of Japanese cinema. I am delighted that a film like this is even available in America. And, I am not surprised that there have been people here who proclaim it to be a 'silly film.' The film is a great surreal satire. It examines the ridiculous nature of male sexuality, and how we as men are motivated by our fears that one day well 'our little soldier won't be able to salute.' I loved the scene where the title character outruns an African long distance runner so he can meet up with the nymphomaniac shoplifter who he has started to have relations with even though he knows very little about her. I love the way birds and fish are used to symbolize fear and desire. This is an intoxicating film. I saw "The Pornogaphers" earlier this year, and it is a delight to see that a brilliant filmmaker has not lost his touch, not remotely!