In the Realm of the Senses

The reputation precedes 1976's IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES, and it is entirely earned.  This is one of those scandalous films I've read about since my teen years.   I was curious, but even if I had a strong desire to watch it in those days it simply wouldn't have been possible.  Thank goodness for the folks at Criterion, whose restoration is expectedly gorgeous.  And uncensored, of course.  When I finally got to it I truly was surprised, even shocked at how explicit this mainstream (though unquestionably art house) movie is.   You can have all the debates you choose about how to define "pornography", but there simply is no debate that this film contains pornographic material.  

And continuous, at that.  I was also taken aback at the sheer amount of content.  It is no fib to state that the sexual scenes are almost non-stop.   To almost the point of monotony, as in a bonafide pornographic movie.  There may have been no other way for writer/director Nagisa Oshima to recount this (true) story.  A story of unbridled, pathological obsession, which goes far beyond the carnal, though that is what occupies the foreground.   Many viewers will not discern that, or even be able to get past the explicit copulation, or the lengthy scene of fellatio which ends with the female's lips covered with semen.  

In pre-WWII Tokyo, hotel maid and former prostitute Sada (Eiko Matsuda) begins an affair with the owner, Kichizo (Tatsuya Fuji).   Even though he is already married, a matrimonial ceremony is performed, during which a hard boiled egg is forced into Saba's vagina, which she expels as if a hen.  The lovers are insatiable.  Well, at least Saba, whose unquenchable desires pay no mind if others, including the hotel's geishas, are in the room.  To put it crudely, they'll do it anywhere anytime.  Scene after scene we observe a physical relationship that will lead to indenturature of many varieties.   They experiment.  Eventually, Saba's sexual desires can only be satisfied while she asphyxiates her partner. 

She's also insanely jealous, and wields knives over Kichizo, insisting that he not make love to his abandoned wife.  How will this story end?

You can read about it.  It's gruesome.  Oshima, as with the sex, does not hold back with the bloodshed.  It will satisfy even the most rabid grindhouse gore fiends.

But IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES does not go for the sensational.  Or, to put it crudely again, the "money shots".  The social and political implications of Sada and Kichizo's bondage are there and become more apparent with reflection.  Note their increasing tendency to bully and belittle others.  Does this high mindedness legitimize a film that, while matter-of-factly presenting its sexuality, will still undoubtedly arouse audiences (at least the kind who crave such content)?  That is for you to judge, invisible audience.

I feel Oshima has created some sort of masterwork, despite the film's tendency to get dangerously close to absurdity, even self parody at times.