In the Realm of the Senses

"Ai no Corrida" redirects here. For the song, see Ai No Corrida (song).

In the Realm of the Senses
Japanese theatrical poster
Directed byNagisa Ōshima
Screenplay byNagisa Ōshima
Based onInspired by a true story of Sada Abe, influenced by The World of Geisha directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyHideo Ito
Edited byKeiichi Uraoka
Music byMinoru Miki
Production
companies
  • Argos Films
  • Oceanic
  • Oshima Productions
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 15 September 1976 (1976-09-15) (France)
  • 16 October 1976 (1976-10-16) (Japan)
Running time
  • 102 minutes (Producer's Cut)
  • 108 minutes (original theatrical cut)
Countries
  • France
  • Japan
LanguageJapanese
Box office
  • $7.65 million (France/Germany)
  • 1,424,906 kr (Sweden)

In the Realm of the Senses (French: L'Empire des sens, Japanese: 愛のコリーダ, Ai no Korīda, "Bullfight of Love"[1]) is a 1976 erotic art film written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima.[2][3] It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of a 1936 murder committed by Sada Abe.[4] An international coproduction of France and Japan, the film generated great controversy at the time of its release.[4] The film had the involvement of pink film luminary Kōji Wakamatsu as co-screenwriter and assistant producer.[5] While intended for mainstream wide release, the film contains scenes of unsimulated sexual activity between the actors (Eiko Matsuda and Tatsuya Fuji, among others).

  1. ^ Turim, Maureen (1998). The Films of Oshima Nagisa: Images of a Japanese Iconoclast. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 0-520-20666-5.
  2. ^ Richie, Donald. "In the Realm of the Senses: Some Notes on Oshima and Pornography". Criterion. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
  3. ^ Fountain, Clarke. "In the Realm of Passion". Allmovie. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  4. ^ a b Sandra Buckley, ed. (14 December 2001). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Japanese Culture. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN 0-415-14344-6.
  5. ^ Crispim, Pedro (2022). "Kōji Wakamatsu: Alienation and the Womb" (PDF). Disegno Journal of Design Culture. 6 (1): |pp=34–53. doi:10.21096/disegno_2022_1pc. S2CID 255084597.