Thermae Romae (2012) User Reviews

Thermae Romae

[matt-356-222250 · 7/10 · 29 April 2012]

Roman architect Lucius discovers a mysterious tunnel in the bathhouse which transports him to a modern day Japanese onsen. Amazed at the technological achievements of this new world he decides to incorporate them into his designs when he returns home. When he is commissioned by the emperor Hadrian to build imperial bathhouses he becomes caught up in Rome's political intrigue. Meanwhile, struggling manga artist Mami attempts to make sense of the unexpected appearances of this unusual foreigner.

With it's bizarre fish-out-of-water plot and plenty of jokes on this theme the film is both fresh and familiar. The first act, with Lucius discovering some of modern Japan's innovations in bathing is particularly amusing. The two leads are strong and have good comic chemistry together. The story becomes a little exposition heavy at times, but doesn't feel over long. The sets of Rome are commendable, however certain scenes, the battle scenes especially, lack the sufficient budget to make them believable. The film is knowingly absurd, and this could have been played up more, but the Roman scenes are often played jarringly straight.

The film is funny and charming The romance between the leads is not allowed to compromise the humour, as the jokes stay strong throughout, yet at the same time it is touching to see their relationship develop. Recommended viewing, if only for the scenes between Lucius and the old Japanese men in the onsen.

Only Japanese can come up with these kind of ideas

[Jithindurden · 7/10 · 27 March 2022]

A bath architect from ancient Rome keeps drowning and appearing in baths in modern Japan, get back to his own time and recreates the baths of the modern world in the best ways he can. The film is as crazy as it sounds from the plot and manages to be hilarious throughout. I didn't mind the minor problems it had in terms of the production. White actors speaking in English being dubbed over, while Japanese actors cast as Romans speaking Japanese looked weird and there were some special effects that were a bit tacky but it all went with the tone of the film. The recreation of ancient Rome itself has been done pretty well. The concept of innovation and the morale of the public psyche being connected to baths is not something you associate all the time but it does make sense. I love these types of crazy storylines.

Nice comedy...

[Thanos_Alfie · 6/10 · 17 March 2023]

"Thermae Romae" is a Comedy - Fantasy movie in which we watch a Roman architect transported to modern-day Japan where he learns a lot and gain reputation and money when he is going back home.

I enjoyed this movie because it had a simple but interesting plot that contained plenty of humorous scenes, something that elevated the movie. The interpretations of both Hiroshi Abe who played as Lucius and Aya Ueto who played as Mami were very good and their combination worked very well. In addition to this, the direction which was made by Hideki Takeuchi was also very good and he presented his main characters in a very clever way in order for the audience to relate to them and follow them along their story. All in all, I have to say that "Thermae Romae" is a nice comedy movie and I recommend everyone to watch it because I am sure you will laugh and you will have a great time.

Enjoyable

[Gordon-11 · 12 September 2020]

It's entertaining and funny. The scenes of Romans trying to copy jacuzzi made my laugh. I enjoyed it.

As relaxing as a hot bath but also guaranteed laughs

[Kicino · 7/10 · 28 August 2012]

It is probably the best movie of Hiroshi Abe I have seen – a great opportunity for him to explore different expressions – a public bath designer Lucius in ancient Rome who accidentally travels back and forth to modern day Japan. Consider the vast range of expressions he could explore and he did very well. And he has such a beautiful body! I felt such a privilege to witness it in the Summer International Film Festival.

It is quite a rare comedy for the generally serious Japanese to praise a cultural aspect they feel so proud of in a comical way. The plot initially appears to be a little silly but it works very well. Both the Japanese and ancient Romans live close to hot springs formed closed to volcanoes so it seems natural that both people have developed an intense interest in bathing. Hence it is also natural that there are points they can borrow from each other.

The plot has a very interesting concept. It is kind of like a live Flintstone cartoon. It also inspires you to look at your mundane daily life from a very different perspective. Do not take anything for granted!

The music is also great as familiar Italian operas appeared from time to time to match the scenes. The tenor is excellent and it matches the mood of the movie very well.

I wish the story would spend a little more on the relationship between the ancient Roman and the modern Japanese woman, aspiring manga (comics) artist Mami (Aya Ueto). But it seems it has been like this for centuries that men do not listen and women talk too much. This movie shows that men appear to be poor listeners but they actually hear you. They just do not respond right away so you do not know if they really get it. So ladies, just spell it out if you think it is important. They do hear it (maybe that's why women talks so much that it appears to be nagging;)). And man, please respond sooner. You have no idea how comforting your responses can be.

As for the shortcomings, I felt it a bit unnatural when it went a bit too far to value the Japanese team spirit. While it sort of reminded us of the rebuilding of Japan after the earthquake and this might serve as a boost of the national spirit, it sounded a bit forced and did not really go well with the development of the plot.

Another area that can be improved is the vulgar Chinese subtitles: not only was it in Cantonese which would make non-Cantonese Chinese hard to understand, but it is also very indecent which is totally unnecessary. The original Japanese does not sound so vulgar and indecent, nor does the English subtitles. This can be easily fixed before the film is publicly released. I do hope the public version will not be spoiled.

After watching this movie, you would be so drawn to soak in an onsen (hot spring) or a public bath, or at least a hot tub. I certainly did.

If ancient Roman would come to modern Japan.

[Aoi_kdr · 6/10 · 6 July 2019]

I felt the humor of the original comic was depicted in the movie faithfully! A ancient Roman architect named Lucius was led modern Japanese bath house, sentoh. There he got some ideas of Romen bath architecture, Thermae Romae. He called modern Japanese flat-faced people. That way to call was very funny! Also Romen people were played these Japanese actors have distinct facial features, Hiroshi Abe, Kazuki Kitamura and Masachika Ichimura. So an actress of heroine couldn't find them in true European extras. I felt like the ending was twisted. But I liked it because it got to the point.

Good comedy film

[faiij · 6/10 · 11 July 2018]

This short film is about the story of Lucious, a roman architect, who leapt through time to modern Japan which makes him gain experiences and knowledge of building hot spring so he can apply these knowledge to Roman hot spring. First off, I like the plot of this film. it is very creative and different from other time-traveling films that I have ever watched. This movie is totally an entertainment since you do not have to think about the action of characters or why it happened too much but just enjoy the film. The plot is not complicated. The main actor of this film looks so alike with Roman people even he is Japanese. However, this movie is originated from comic book. So, there are some parts that might be frustrating to watch. For example, the movie itself is more like a gag cartoon that are divided into episodes. So, each apart of the film is not continue with other parts. Also, I don't really feel like it is necessary to have a female character who is the second main actor of this film in this movie in this film and forcibly put romantic plot between Lucious and that female character.

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

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 12 July 2019]

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

Highly Entertaining Movie!

[sukmandragon · 10/10 · 21 September 2012]

This movie was one of the Gala screenings at the 2012 Toronto Intl Film Festival. Unfortunately I did not manage to secure a ticket and also did not get to meet Abe-san who was there to greet fans before the show. Luckily it was one of the inflight movies on Air Canada on my way to HK, and I got to see it then. Normally on such a small screen, it would affect my enjoyment however for this particular movie, I was laughing a lot and must say one of the best comedies (with a bit of romance) I have ever seen!The music (opera) was perfect for the film, the cast especially Abe was excellent, as well as the entire production (the Rome set was impressive). If you want to have two hours of fun, this is THE movie to go to. You won't regret it :) ENJOY! I look forward to October 4 for its release in Hong Kong. You bet I want to see it again, this time on a big screen with big sound!

Baths Are Good For Every Culture

[alisonc-1 · 9/10 · 2 August 2013]

Lucius Modestus (Hiroshi Abe) is a hardworking bath builder in ancient Rome, but he's behind the times and no longer getting work. He can only think when under water and one day at the baths, under water, he sees something bubbling; when he investigates, he is sucked into a vortex that suddenly thrusts him out of the water.... and into a bath-house in modern-day Japan! Assuming that all the "Flat-Faced Clan" are slaves, he marvels at the bath and water-related technology available to them; he becomes emotional at the taste of a "milk-fruit" drink and soon finds himself back in Rome. But now he's back in Rome with new ideas for baths, and it isn't long before his fame bring him to the attention of Emperor Hadrianus (Masachika Ichimura). Meanwhile, young Mami (Aya Ueto) has failed in her quest to become a published manga star, and she's fired when she lets Lucius escape from his first modern-day adventure. Seeing him, she has found her new hero – to draw, that is – and she can only hope that he will appear again. As, of course, he does, several times.... When I read the description of this film, I knew it was going to be top of my list for 2013 FantAsia films to see, and I was very much not disappointed in it; the very premise is hilarious (did you know, for example, that ancient Romans all spoke Japanese and, well, most of them were Japanese? Or that an ancient Roman would, when asked the year, casually reply, "it's 135 AD"? Totally goofy, with a touch of romance besides, by the end even dour Lucius has a smile on his face. I hope I can find this on DVD, is all I can say!

surrealistic and funny

[decopon_kobe · 8/10 · 26 July 2016]

The main character Lucius is A bath Licensed designer in Roma. He is serious and considers Roman bath culture so his works aren't received. One day, he travels through time to the modern Japan for strange reason. In modern Japan, He sees a comic artist Mami and he is surprised at polishing Japanese bath culture. He goes back Roma and designs novel bath using Japanese idea. And he becomes famous licensed designer.

One of noticeable points is that casts have strong featured faces. The reason is to reproduce Roman. The tempo of story line and change scenes is good. Story runs at a blazing speed, which helps to complete this movie as comedy movie and to make the movie more funny.

We can watch this film with a light heart. If you want to spend useless and funny time, I recommend this movie. I laughed a lot and enjoy it.

sweet pretty nice

[Kirpianuscus · 21 April 2024]

I saw it as provocative, sweet and...pretty boring between the travels of poor architect are not only repetitive but, in some measure, pretty childish.

But the idea is seductive and , reminding the emotion of childhood about adventure - historical books, just smart used. And the humor, like providential romance, the parallel between cultures , ore than Japaneses talking Latin are not so insignificant.

Indeed, in few moments I perceived Terumae romae as just delightful and, in some measure, it is little more, for acting, for atmosphere, for ingenuity of slices of story and for noble intentions as axis of a sweet - pretty nice film about pretentions of powerful men and the sources of inspiration for a correct architect.