Thermae Romae The famous peplum fantasy by Takeuchi Hideki will be out in Italian cinemas in June, distributed by Tucker Film, and its sequel will be the Closing Film of the 16th Udine Far East Film Festival!
The Italian trailer:
In a month, the most famous Japanese peplum fantasy will be moving to Italy: we’re obviously talking about Thermae Romae, that will be out in June in Italian cinemas, thanks to Tucker Film, and we’re also talking about Thermae RomaeII, the long awaited sequel, which, on May 3rd, is going to wrap up FEFF 16 as an International Premiere! It was at the renowned Udine festival that two years ago Takeuchi Hideki presented his cult movie, making the “FarEastians” all fired up and excited, and now that enthusiasm is about to be totally rewarded…
Based on the manga by Yamazaki Mari, very known in Italy as well, the first Thermae Romae tells the deeds of Lucius Modestus (played by Japanese superstar Abe Hiroshi, absolutely perfect for the part): a hunky architect from Ancient Rome that all of a sudden finds himself thrown into contemporary Japan! The movie, shot in Cinecittà and in the Italian Capital’s environs, swarms with Italian extras and, here and there, resorts to Latin (surely to some teachers’ dismay) and opera arias (among them the Triumphal March from Aida). The script offers one joke after another, exploiting with enviable creativity the narrative device of time travelling, while digital miracles take care of the rest, together with various Roman sets and a thorough attention to detail in the entire procedure.
The attention to detail and the visual conception are tools Takeuchi Hideki furnishes Thermae RomaeII with, reconfirming the same cast and the same narrative approach: monumental sets, more than 5000 extras, breathtaking locations (the movie was shot between Bulgaria and Japan). So, what is going to happen to Lucius Modestus? After designing the lavish Baths of Hadrian, core of chapter 1, the bold architect will face a new challenge: designing thermal baths inside the Coliseum, to soothe battered and injured gladiators…
Born in 1966, Takeuchi Hideki started out working for Fuji Television and, in 1996, directed his very first series for the TV channel. In 1998, he won the award for best director at the Television Drama Academy Awards for Just a Little More, God and he subsequently won that same award three other times. His debut feature film dates back to 2009 with the musical comedy in two parts Nodame Cantabile, followed by Thermae Romae: that’s the path that lead him from Japan to Udine’s FEFF.
And then, here it is, Udine’s FEFF, that from April 25th to May 3rd will present 60 of the best popular Asian films: from huge blockbusters to future cult movies, without leaving aside the outsiders who have been given a chance to shine. 10 different countries (Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan) will be under the curious gaze of both the organisers, who supervise the festival’s overall quality without any artistic discrimination, and of the audience, who is looking forward to getting lost and drifting far away from the West.
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JPG Images available on the official website www.fareastfilm.com