Thermae Romae (2012)

Thermae Romae is a Japanese movie directed by Hideki Takeuchi and based on a manga by Mari Yamazaki. It was released by Toho in Japan on April 28, 2012.

The film stars Hiroshi Abe as an ancient Roman bath house architect named Lucious who loses his job due to his inability to keep up with the times. When his friend takes him to a public bath house to cheer him up, Lucious slips forward through time while desperately seeking inspiration for a new idea and winds up in a present-day bath house in Japan.

In Japan he meets a young aspiring manga artist named Mami (Aya Ueto) and other Japanese people who he refers to as the “flat-faced clan”. Lucious is fascinated by Japan’s modern bathing culture, and bounces back and forth through time to implement these advancements in ancient Rome while establishing his historical legacy as a genius inventor. See also: Thermae Romae 2 (2014)