In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

Japanese erotic drama, which, balancing on the very edge of pornography, tells a fascinating story about love, passion, and obsession that leads to inevitable death.8/10

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (AI NO KORIIDA). Viewed on streaming. Restoration/preservation = ten (10) stars; cinematography and lighting = ten (10) stars; costume design = eight (8) stars; subtitles = eight (8) stars; score/music = three (3) stars; script = two (2) stars. This is a joint French and Japanese film intended (at least initially) for Western festival audiences. Director Nagisa Ôshima (who is also credited as a script co-writer) mounts a tale of a woman with an exceptionally bad case of penis envy who eventually gets to keep one (until arrested for murder!). The movie consists of simulated and real oral/vaginal sex plus a few random scenes of relative depravity (including some kiddy porn) tossed in to hold in check the viewer's growing boredom from seeing essentially the same sex shots repeated for about an hour and a half. Ôshima also strains to keep the viewer's interest with variations on the theme of sexual obsession. This parallels what the two leading characters are experiencing as they try out ever increasing dangerous sex experiments to keep getting a sexual high 24/7 (a classic sign of additive behavior, of course). The script is vacuous and mostly consists of one liners. Unfortunately it is the same line ("It feels so good") with minor variations thereof here and there. The players are Japanese speaking Japanese. But all post production occurred and stayed in France (including development of negatives!) to avoid running afoul of Japan's legal system. Acting is a cut or two above what might be expected from a contemporary run-of-the mill porno film. Same for production design. Restoration, cinematography (semi-wide screen, color) and lighting are excellent. Kimono are especially colorful and seem designed especially for backdoor "quickies." Subtitles are fine (it helps if you can read French for the opening/closing credits). Music mostly consists of solitary shamisen on or off screen. It is what it is! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Of late I've became a big fan of Asian and Japanese erotic films especially since I admire and find oriental females attractive. Anyway this hard core very erotic and push the limits sex passion film from 1976 "In the Realm of the Senses" did indeed entertain. It's a visual delight a pleasure to view as the passion and sex scenes push the limit they are clearly hard core and over the top as the film has never been viewed in it's native of Japan. It's really a film of sex and more sex as director Nagisa Oshima wanted to show that sex can be an obsession and become a passion that's dangerous and brutal passing love even leading to death! Anyway the film still does have somewhat of a story and plot it's set in the 1930's around the time of ever on going imperialism and governmental control, it revolves around a house of Japanese servants all ladies for a man and soon he falls in love with one of his new girls as the love is all consuming but destructive as both this man and woman(Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda)with be split up and carved up! Based on a true story this film to me is real pornography that's graphic it makes a real visual statement this is one erotic gem that pushed sex and passion to the visual limits!

This was disturbing to watch. First of all, one needs to buy into its cultural me milieu. Then we need to begin to accept the two fundamental characters and how they meld into that setting. This is a story of unbridled sensualism. It's soft one moment and hideous the next. The movie is incredibly graphic and I'm sure the release frightened and confused its patrons. I have to admit, I never really fell under its spell. As a matter of fact, I think I felt that I was invading a sick kind of world. Was I seeing people or monsters? There is great effort at times to prevent it from moving into the next level. The performances aren't really sexual as much as sadistic. This is proved out.