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Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Play trailer 1:37 Poster for Warm Water Under a Red Bridge 2002 1h 59m Fantasy Romance Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 46 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Brimming with magical realism, sensuality, and humor, the final film by revered filmmaker Shohei Imamura is "an enlightening, even liberating, experience" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) that tells the story of Yosuke Sasano, an unemployed salaryman who arrives in a remote fishing village following a rumor of hidden treasure. Instead, he meets Saeko Aizawa, a charming and unusual woman with a unique problem: a well of warm water inside her longing for release. Saeko faces both shame and adoration for her condition, which the local anglers believe feeds the river and its fish. Intrigued and enamored, Yosuke decides to take up a new life as a fisherman. Through their passionate affair, Imamura paints a picture of longing, fantasy, and the search for true happiness in the most unexpected of places that's both "nonchalantly freaky and uncommonly pleasurable" (Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice).
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Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

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Critics Consensus

A whimsically engaging sex comedy.

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Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Sep 27, 2002
3/4
Seeing it as a Westerner is an enlightening, even liberating, experience. Go to Full Review Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Sep 26, 2002
3/4
Like its bizarre heroine, it irrigates our souls. Go to Full Review Mark Rahner Seattle Times Sep 6, 2002
2.5/4
A charming, quirky and leisurely paced Scottish comedy -- except with an outrageous central gimmick that could have been a reject from Monty Python's Meaning of Life. Go to Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Jun 12, 2023
A whimsically bittersweet, empathetic shaggy tale, which arrives at a surprising destination of complexly affirmed faith in humanity’s innate goodness. Go to Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Jun 6, 2023
3/4
Odd and oddly endearing. Go to Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia Sep 15, 2020
7/10
It is an Imamura drama as warm as hot spring water. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Oct 23, 2013 Seemingly Imamura's weirdest and least essential film, but the cast of characters is so lovable that it has to be enjoyed. And what a climax. See more Jun 19, 2013 This is perhaps one of the strangest Japanese movies that I have seen but it works nonetheless. The characters are well defined and the story line turns the unbelievable into the plausible. See more Dec 7, 2011 Imamura's movies always have something amazing and this is not the exception. See more Jul 19, 2011 Strange, funny and cool romance. See more Dec 23, 2010 orgasm with a lot of water. See more Dec 1, 2010 A life for a man is only while his dick can get hard - probably true! See more Read all reviews
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

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Cast & Crew

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Shôhei Imamura

Director

Kôji Yakusho

Yosuke Sasano

Misa Shimizu

Saeko Aizawa

Mitsuko Baishô

Mitsu Aizawa

Mansaku Fuwa

Gen

Isao Natsuyagi

Masayuki Uomi

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Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

Warm Water Under a Red Bridge: Trailer 1 Warm Water Under a Red Bridge: Trailer 1 1:37 Now Playing View more videos
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Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

YOSUKE (Koji Yakusho) and SAKEO (Misa Shimizu) embrace. YOSUKE (Koji Yakusho) and SAKEO (Misa Shimizu) embrace. Scene from the film "Warm Water Under a Red Bridge." YOSUKE (Koji Yakusho) eats noodles while relaxing. YOSUKE (Koji Yakusho) and SAKEO (Misa Shimizu) embrace. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Brimming with magical realism, sensuality, and humor, the final film by revered filmmaker Shohei Imamura is "an enlightening, even liberating, experience" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times) that tells the story of Yosuke Sasano, an unemployed salaryman who arrives in a remote fishing village following a rumor of hidden treasure. Instead, he meets Saeko Aizawa, a charming and unusual woman with a unique problem: a well of warm water inside her longing for release. Saeko faces both shame and adoration for her condition, which the local anglers believe feeds the river and its fish. Intrigued and enamored, Yosuke decides to take up a new life as a fisherman. Through their passionate affair, Imamura paints a picture of longing, fantasy, and the search for true happiness in the most unexpected of places that's both "nonchalantly freaky and uncommonly pleasurable" (Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice).
Director
Shôhei Imamura
Producer
Hisa Iino
Screenwriter
Shôhei Imamura, Daisuke Tengan, Motofumi Tomikawa, Yo Henmi
Distributor
Cowboy Pictures
Production Co
Miramax
Genre
Fantasy, Romance, Drama
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
May 3, 2002, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Mar 31, 2023
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$62.0K
Runtime
1h 59m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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