Warm Water under a Red Bridge

Warm Water under a Red Bridge is the latest film--and one of the most outrageous--by Cannes award-winner Shohei Imamura (The Eel, Dr. Akagi).

Warm Water under a Red Bridge is a charmingly bizarre slice of magical realism about a middle-aged Tokyo man who travels to a small town to snare a buried statue of Buddha. Instead, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful young woman whose body happens to gush gallons of water when she makes love--so much that she's personally responsible for replenishing the local river and keeping gardens green.

An endearing look at provincial eccentricity, as well as an over-the-top celebration of the female orgasm, Imamura's film contributes to his career-long quest to question the nature and function of gender, often outside the boundaries of what's considered "politically correct." (119 mins.)

Screening first is Pharmacy (2001; 4 mins.), directed by Cleveland's Bruce Checefsky. It's a remake of a lost experimental film made in 1930 by Polish filmmakers Franciszka and Stefan Themerson.