In the Realm of the Senses

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.