Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Chri7 In the film IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES by Oshima Nagisa, we can not catch a trace of similarity to those cliché love stories where Romeo and Juliet show their affections implicitly and finally get together, pushing aside all obstacles and difficulties. Instead, there is extraordinarily explicit, intense, and stimulating lust between the two characters, who "do virtually nothing but pursue their sexual desires"(Peter Lehman). The carnal sexuality, as the main theme of the film, implies two sides of a coin: ideally returning to Eden where one can obey the instinctive desires and lightheartedly indulge in sexual pleasure, as well as suffering from Coitum Animal Triste – great void and solitude after extreme pleasure of orgasms. As Sada irresistibly drown in lust, deeper and deeper, she at last heads towards destruction with her lover.In the realm of sensory pleasure, Kichi, as a masculine and patricentric symbol, is put in a weak position throughout; hence Sada's aggressive and possessive passion for sex becomes the symbol of awakened female self-consciousness. It reminds me of another film, Joi Niku Dorei (1986) by Katsuhiko Fuji. In this Japanese pink film, Kumi, a beautiful doctor, married her colleague Kitame. A misleading sex tape in which the heroine looks exactly like Kumi soon ruins their idyllic marriage, sent anonymously. Kitame thinks Kumi betrayed him, and thence has sex with the misconceived wife with brutalities and humiliations ever after. In the end of the film, with all misunderstandings resolved, Kumi turns down Kitame's begging for forgiveness. In a hotel room, she masturbates to orgasm in front of a DV she bought for herself, then wanders around Tokyo streets aimlessly. The film ends with a reflection of Kumi's pretty but slightly flurried face on a showcase filled with televisions in an electronics store. Trauma and lust changes Kumi, a conventionally gentle and virtuous wife, into an independent woman who discerns and pursues her instinctive desire. In other words, the sex-tape incident awakes Kumi.In the context of women's sexual pleasure relying on pleasing men, Kumi and Sada resist male supremacy through sexuality. The difference is Sada opens to her desire at the very beginning, with the will and determination towards self-destruction.La petite mort, meaning "the little death", is a French euphemism for orgasm. Ecstasy during transient orgasm does have resemblances with death: they are both extreme experience. In the end of the film, Sada strangles Kichi to death and cut off his genital. She regards it as the only way towards eternal sexuality, and in this way she and Kichi can be together forever. Death, self-destruction, and lust, seems to be Sada's final redemption.Explicit sex scenes in the film are astonishing. In his book, Running Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body, Peter Lehman argues the difference between erotic traditions of ancient East and modern West. Lehman enumerates several features in western hard-core pornography: invariably erect penises, men ejaculating on women's faces, and moaning and groaning of women in ecstasy; either symbolizes man power or centrality of male sexuality. In this case, "women's pleasure becomes fetishized, not valued". Contrarily in In the Realm of Senses, Sada's sexual satisfaction is the only thing that Kichi values, as he says "No. But if it pleases you, yes," when Sada asks if he really wants she to strangle him. There are many shots of Kichi's flaccid average-size penis, and Sada always moans as an expression of her own pleasure.In the Realm of Senses is a significant masterpiece, on account of both its extremely sensual, erotic, and romantic story and its distinction comparing with western hard-core pornography – it stands for women's desires.

BA_Harrison Former prostitute Sada Abe (Eiko Matsuda) works as a maid in a hotel where she begins a torrid sexual relationship with the married owner, Kichizo Ishida (Tatsuya Fuji). As the steamy affair progresses, Sada becomes obsessed with her lover to such an extent that she threatens to emasculate him should he ever sleep with his wife again, a promise she eventually keeps (but only after throttling him with her belt).Released on DVD by both the BFI and Criterion, and included in the book '1001 Films To See Before You Die', In The Realm Of The Senses is clearly highly regarded by many film experts who see it not as pornography but as an important work of erotic art. I'm not convinced that the film is anything other than a case of flagrant exploitation—beautifully shot with fine performances, but still no more deserving of critical acclaim than your average sex-fuelled pink movie.Watch it before you die, by all means, but don't expect anything more thought provoking than 109 minutes of repetitive unsimulated shagging, with a little bit of fun with a boiled egg, some winkie-tugging, and a gory finale for good measure.

gavin6942 A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to a sexual obsession which then came to a violent end.This film is easy to dismiss as "glorified porn" or something of that nature. Indeed, it tends to go beyond what we call soft-core... there is no hiding the male anatomy and some acts are rather explicit. And yet, I never really felt like the film was "dirty" or gratuitous.There is something to be said about love, sex, obsession and the life of a geisha. Certainly in western society we find it hard to believe a prostitute or porn star could have a meaningful relationship or be in love. What of the Japanese, who view prostitution somewhat differently? This is an interesting exploration.

mevmijaumau Nagisa Oshima liked to make aggressive and challenging films, but no other work of his was as controversial as In the Realm of the Senses, which was banned in several countries after its release, the uncut version still being banned in Japan. The movie was made with French money because no Japanese producer would dare touch it because of censorship laws. The film was filmed in Japan, but the footage was shipped to France so it could be processed.In the Realm of the Senses is one of five (!) biographical films made about Sada Abe and Kichizo Ishida, the real life '30s couple whose affair ended disastrously; Sada castrated Kichizo and went around with his penis in her handbag around Tokyo for days afterwards. The story gathered controversy and media attention, and so did the film. The hype to see this film at the Cannes film festival was so high that 13 screenings were arranged. In Portugal, Archbishop of Braga D. Eurico Dias Nogueira has said that he 'had learned more in 10 minutes of the film than in his entire life'.The movie contains unsimulated sex between the two actors Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda, among others. Plus, many scenes celebrate sex or present it in a titillating manner, so technically this movie is art-house pornography, but if it is, then it's really, really emotionally intense and compelling as far as porn goes. The film depicts a relationship free of all weights and responsibilities, where hedonistic sexual obsession in itself becomes the source of satisfaction for the couple, and how such an approach to life can lead to disaster.The film is very confrontational and doubtless as to what it wants to show. Almost every possible sex act finds its way into the runtime, it's as if sex scenes are the primary tool Oshima uses to tell the story. The movie is so sexually charged that not only do characters get laid, but also an egg does (ba-dum tsss). By Sada. So it gets really grotesque and bizarre at several turns. It's also the third Japanese film I've seen so far where kakurenbo (hide and seek) is played, only this time I'm left wondering what the point of the scene was.The color cinematography is beautiful, amazing. Continuing the artistic heritage from traditional erotic woodblock prints (shunga), multicolored kimonos (one of which has Triforces) and flashy indoor decor are soaked in inviting warm shades of red and orange, with snow falling just outside. This contrast echoes the rising of cold militarism outside, while Sada and Kichizo get all comfy and warm indoors in their privacy. The traditional music is also very memorable and amplifies the mood of the film perfectly. It's hard to imagine it without its soundtrack.