Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

treywillwest As lushly beautiful looking as any film I've seen by Oshima, and that's saying something. Otherwise, this seems like his most conventional movie, at least on the surface. This is one of the director's few films that could be described as a genre work- in this case the tradition of the Japanese ghost story. Yet I also read it as a take on American Film Noir, what with sexual obsession driving a single man and a married woman to murdering the latter's husband. But it reverses that genre's gender tropes, making the young man the figure of sexual power who leaves the otherwise decent woman astray. Oshima is, I think, playing with the audience's patriarchal expectations, making them squirm a bit at the notion of a woman being so overcome by lust as to abandon her principles. "Isn't it man who is supposed to be virtuous yet corrupted by beauty???!!!" At one point, it is implied that the film is only a depiction of hearsay, even within it's own narrational space. This makes the work more true to Oshima's style- implying a vision of Japanese society as one characterized by hypocritical sexual repression, rumor, and superstition.

talisencrw I am a great fan of Ôshima's work, though unfortunately I have only seen previously six films of his, all between 1965's 'Pleasures of the Flesh' and 1976's extremely controversial 'In the Realm of the Senses'. This, like the latter, was a period piece that looked at a doomed relationship (this time in 1895), though far less scandalous in its sexuality, though still titillating nevertheless. Exiled and forced to work with the French in order to continue his passion, Ôshima's storytelling, through Yoshio Miyajima's gorgeous camera-work and another exemplary soundtrack by Japanese scoring genius, Tôru Takemitsu, and remarkably passion-ate performances by its stars, Tatsuya Fuji (who separated his shoulder, his acting was so intense) and Kazuko Yoshiyuki (who, I must admit, has the most amazing nipples I have ever seen), was great, earning him Best Director at Cannes. It seemed a reverse noir, with Fuji's Toyoji playing the seducer, and Yoshiuki's once-faithful wife being persuaded to be co-conspirator to her loving (but not fulfilling her desires) rickshaw-driver husband, not to mention a fine ghost story, with Gisaburo's very patient ghost taking three years to finally bring himself justice, by forcing the community to press the horribly-incompetent (almost as inept as Doug McGrath's Sergeant Nash in the original 'Black Christmas'!) Inspector Hotta to eventually torture confessions out of the ill-fated duo. Another film to see with the person you love!...

Ashkan Kazemian "Empire of Passion" is a story of unbounded passion, crime, guilty conscience and eventual loss.The story takes place in a Japanese village in 1895. The monotonous lives of Gisaburo, the husband, and Seki, the wife, is changed forever when Seki begins an affair with a younger man, Toyojo, who convinces her that they should kill her husband to be together freely. Gisaburo's murder is the beginning of the sufferings of Seki and Toyojo, who are driven to madness in their own different ways.Director Nagisa Oshima interweaves into his horrifying story elements of Japanese culture, particularly the belief in the appearance of the ghost of dead people. In Empire of Passion, it is in fact the appearance of Gisaburo's ghost which drives the already-troubled Seki more and more towards madness, to the point where the boundary between reality and dream (or better to say nightmares) becomes blurred.Some critics said Akira Kurosawa was depicting "hell" in his 1961 Yujinbo. I believe it might as well be said the same for Empire of Passion, in its own way.

ebiros2 I'm not sure if I qualify for commenting on this movie. I'm on and off impressed with director Nagisa Ooshima's movies. I'm not from the generation when he was at the zenith of his career, and I can't comment on how much of a shock value his movies had in the '60s and '70s.The movie is beautiful. One thing I can say about director Ooshima is the perfection of beauty of his visuals.The story seems rather prosaic now after 35 years since it was made. It's a simple story about a murder based on an affair. How unusual is that ? I was counting on Ooshima's sharpness at making a point from his unique perspective as a director, and a story teller. I couldn't find that here, and is my point of disappointment.The movie is rather ordinary Japanese movie from the '70s. It's got stunningly beautiful visuals compared to movies other directors made around the same period (see for instance "Inugami no Tatari" that takes place in a similar setting and you'll see how great Nagisa Ooshima's visual presentation is), but the story and the acting is rather average. I also couldn't feel the outstanding "speed" that I usually feel when watching his better movies.So I'm only commenting from the 21st century perspective on this movie, and may not at all be fair to the movie or the director. But it's a good movie that's mildly interesting to watch, with absolutely first class cinematography. You would have to see this yourself, and be the judge of its value.