Classic Film of the Month

In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no corrida)

Dir: Nagisa Oshima | Japan/France | 1975 | 108 mins

Distributor | BFI

Oshima's classic cause-celebre about a couple who pursue their sexual desire for each other to the ultimate end was based on the true case of Sada Abe which rocked Japan. The essence of the film concerns how the physical becomes an all-consuming expression of the lovers psyche, critiquing society at large through their total dislocation and estrangement from the Japan outside the walls of their home. It was so sexually explicit and politically controversial that it had to be shot on a closed set with the negative flown out to a lab in France for post-production. Oshima, one of the key director's of the Japanese New Wave, went on record saying the film could never have been made without the support of legendary French producer Anatole Dauman and the support of major star Tatsuya Fuji in the lead role. To this day the film remains unseen in its full form in Japan.