Imamura's Warm Water Under a Red Bridge

[Arnold M]

I got some tickets free from a friend and was able to see this last 
Saturday night.  I hope you all don't mind if I brainstorm a little about 
it here.

I read the Film-Philosophy article that was mentioned here last week, and 
although I often find myself agreeing with feminist arguments like Martha 
P. Nochimson's (I'm a big fan of Linda Williams, Laura Mulvey etc., and 
even some 1990s horror movie psychoanalysis/criticism), this time I can't 
quite buy it.  The idea of "male-like" female ejaculation alone could be 
interpreted as a very sexist fantasy depending on the context (go browsing 
through a porn video store in America or Japan and I'm sure you'd turn up 
several titles, if not series, on the subject) and that was my initial 
reaction as well (as Saeko says, "it's not pee"), but I think there was 
ultimately a little more to Imamura's heroine than that.  There were points 
where the film perhaps tried to point out the "male gaze" and even 
criticize men's obsession with this kind of "abnormal" sexuality--a sleazy 
gangster-type guy comes looking to try out the woman's "treasure" for 
himself, one of the fishermen react to Saeko with superstition and maybe a 
little fear, calling her a demon and such... and in one part Yosuke has 
trouble, well, getting it up when Saeko's sex life seems to return to a 
closer to "normal" state.  It was also interesting that Saeko had all of 
the control; they did it when she wanted to, and that was basically the 
basis of their relationship.  The camera didn't particuarly linger on 
Saeko's body (unlike Freeze Me did with its heroine), and there were a few 
shots of Yakusho Koji nude as well.  I don't want to oversimplify the story 
to make my point, but I was left with the feeling that Nochimson skipped a 
few important things.  Maybe Warm Water wasn't as critical as it could have 
or "should have" been, but I think it did "question such fantasies" at 
least a little.

Anyway, on a first viewing I actually enjoyed it more than I did Unagi or 
Kanzo Sensei.  The connection to "itai itai byo" and industrial pollution 
raised a few interesting questions too.  To me it definitely felt like an 
Imamura film.  I saw the last showing on Sat. night at the Tokyu Bunka 
Kaikan in Shibuya, and there were only about 15 people in the theater.  
(This time the projection was OK, but a little off focus.)  It was a little 
disappointing to see such a poor reception for a film like this, even if 
it's not Imamura's best.

It seems a few of the other members here have seen it.  If you have any 
more comments or ideas, please share them!

I watched Masumura's Otto ga Mita on video last week, and in a similar way 
the story was about a married woman and the way the men around her 
(husband, her family) and society deny her access to a decent sex life.  At 
first I thought it was a fairly socially conscious story, but then I 
started thinking about the way "Someone's Wife" has itself become a genre 
of home video pornography; stories about men saving the day by releasing 
women's unbridled, animalistic desire for them after they've been abused 
and ignored by their husbands.  (On the other hand a few searches on the 
web turn up scheduled showings of Manji at various gay/lesbian film 
festivals.)  

I'm very tempted to call Masumura's film "feminist," and others might say 
Imamura's latest isn't.  Some critics have tried to offer feminist 
critiques of Japanese cinema, Joan Mellen is one... but even as I look at 
TV shows and movies here through my own "women's studies"-educated goggles, 
I'm left wondering, how far can we apply our expectations for the "feminist 
critique" here?  If Imamura's movies aren't really "feminist" now, were 
they 30 years ago?  Or has he been trying to do something else altogether?  
Were Naruse or Mizoguchi really feminist directors?  Is this a problem with 
theory as a whole or with the quality of each analysis alone?

Sorry to drag on like this by myself.  It hasn't been a very busy day at 
work.  Anyway, I'd be very curious to hear if the rest of you have comments 
on Imamura, Masumura and "feminism" in Japanese film.

Michael Arnold

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