THE REALM OF THE SENSES (aka AI NO CORRIDA)

Nagisa Oshima is one of the great Japanese directors. He is best known in the West for his 1983 film MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE, which also introduced 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano to Western audiences. He made his first film in 1959, and has been fairly prolific since then, though his output slowed considerably after 1978 to the point where he has only made four films in the last 23 years. The most recent of these was 1999's acclaimed GOHATTO, which re-united Oshima with Kitano. By 1976, Oshima had made around 30 films in various genres, though he was not known outside of Japan. However, he had become tired with Japanese censorship and the restraints which it placed upon his artistic temperament. He decided to make a pornographic film - hardcore pornography was (and still is) illegal in Japan (though it can now be found on video, it is still not officially allowed). Also, the depiction of genitalia was not allowed in Japanese cinema (again, this taboo remains in place today, though there has been some relaxation in recent years). Therefore, he would have to produce the film outside of Japan. He teamed up with a French producer, Anatole Dauman, and the radical, maverick Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu (director of many famous underground films such as VIOLATED ANGELS (1967), THE EMBRYO HUNTS IN SECRET (1966), etc). Dauman had just produced Walerian Borowczyk's LA B�TE (1975, aka 'The Beast'), another attempt at introducing hardcore pornography into an artistic but mainstream film, and he seemed the obvious choice to work with Oshima for this project. The print was to be processed in France, where Oshima would be free from the censorship laws which he felt so restrained him in Japan. Oshima took a notorious true story as the basis for the film - the case of 'Abe Sada'. Sada was a low-class prostitute, who was found wandering the streets of Tokyo in May 1936, clutching the severed penis of her lover Yoshizo Ishida (aka Kichizo). The two had apparently indulged in a two-week long love-making session and Sada was in a state of delirium. A year earlier Noboru Tanaka had filmed the story for Nikkatsu Studios as A WOMAN CALLED ABE SADA ('Jitsuroku Abe Sada') - this version is also available on DVD in the UK (from Pagan), but is much less well known than Oshima's notorious big budget international film. More recently, a third film has been made of the story, 1998's SADA (made by the interesting, genre-swapping director Nobuhiko Obayashi, best known for his 1987 film DRIFTING CLASSROOM). Oshima's film's Japanese title is AI NO CORRIDA, but it is better known internationally as 'In the Realm of the Senses'. Nouveaux have decided to drop the 'In' from the title for some reason, perhaps because the direct translation of the French title "L'Empire des Sens" is 'The Realm of the Senses'.

A description of the film's narrative would be extremely tedious for the reader as there is almost no story - the film is made up of countless sex sessions between Sada (played by Eiko Matsuda) and Kichizo (played by Tatsuya Fuji). Sada is seduced by her master, Kichizo (in real-life, Kichizo is thought to have been a pimp. Oshima's story has him a fairly well-off, respectable man) and gradually the two become increasingly ruled by sex. They make love constantly, much to the scandal of the people around them. Their love-making becomes increasingly desperate and increasingly fetishistic, until it becomes an all-consuming force from which they cannot escape. They begin to experiment with asphyxiation during sex, and this eventually leads Sada to strangle her lover to death (with his agreement). Afterwards, she cuts off his penis and lies happily by his bloody corpse.

Oshima's film is very graphic in its depiction of the pair's frenzied coupling. The film contains explicit sex and scenes that would still be surprising today, making this the only legally available mainstream film in the UK to contain such scenes (though LA B�TE is apparently coming soon...). Of course, there have been a few other attempts at integrating hardcore sex scenes into mainstream cinema over the years, including Borowyczk's previously mentioned LA B�TE, Tetsuji Takeuchi's DAYDREAM (1981, Japan) and Marco Bellocchio's IL DIAVOLO IN CORPO (1986, Italy), up to more recent films like BAISE-MOI (2000, Coralie & Virginie Despentes, France), THE IDIOTS (1998, Lars Von Trier, Denmark) and I.K.U. (2000, Shu Lea Cheang, Japan). But Oshima's film is undoubtedly the most notorious of all. It was banned upon its premiere at the 1976 New York Film Festival and was refused a theatrical certification in the UK until 1991. The film is still controversial, but has gained the respect of many critics for its uncompromising depiction of a relationship based completely on sex. Oshima films the action with considerable skill, often composing remarkable tableau in which the love-making couple seem no longer the focus of the camera. He also makes the most of some beautiful scenery and sets, making the film seem exotic and luscious to watch. The sex scenes are very explicit, but are filmed in a frank, non-exploitative manner which still manages to retain some element of eroticism. The viewer is drawn into the increasingly desperate relationship, until Oshima delivers the final set-piece, as Sada cuts off her lover's penis. This is shown in brief close-up as is the bloodied severed penis after the act, and remains shocking today. We then see Sada lying entwined with the corpse, serene, a bloody hole where the man's penis used to be. This sequence of images would have been enough to ensure the film's notoriety, and coupled with the constant couplings, so to speak, the film was just too much for 70's audiences. Oshima made several TV films over the next two years, before making a semi-sequel to this film, AI NO BOREI (aka 'In the Realm of Passion', 1978). AI NO BOREI was another co-production with France and also starred Tatsuya Fuji (who didn't make any other significant films). It was based upon a novel by Itoko Namura, and is more of a ghostly love story than an erotic horror story. It is considerably more restrained than AI NO CORRIDA and does not feature any hardcore sex scenes. Oshima was awarded the 'Best Director' award at Cannes for AI NO BOREI, as a kind of delayed recognition of his international importance. After this film, Oshima seemed to be burnt out. He would return five years later with the acclaimed MERRY CHRISTMAS MR LAWRENCE, but seemingly has never fully recovered from the excesses of his 1976 masterpiece, as evinced by his low output in the last two decades.

DVD Specification
Original year of release - 1976
Approximate running time - 98min.
Aspect ratio - Widescreen approx. 1.85:1
System - PAL (colour)
Rating - 18
Sound - Dolby Digital Mono (1.0)
DVD release - Nouveaux Pictures
Region Coding - Region 0 (code free)

DVD Extras
Director's filmography
Photo gallery

DVD Ratings (out of 5)
Picture - 4
The front cover for this film claims 'digitally remastered'. How many times have we seen that claim made, and how many times are the results less than overwhelming? Well, you could certainly have been forgiven for having very low hopes for this release, being as it is from Nouveaux Pictures, infamous amongst horror fans for their appalling DVD releases of Dario Argento's masterpieces SUSPIRIA and TENEBRE. Nouveaux have been quietly building up their catalogue of VHS titles recently, and are now offering a considerable range of art films (including the companion piece to this film, AI NO BOREI). They have also released Fellini's 8 1/2 to DVD. Many of their VHS titles would be very welcome on DVD, so we must hope that this release does well - but does it deserve to? I'm pleased to report that the answer is (mostly) yes. The picture quality on this DVD is stunning for a low budget UK release, with hardly any print damage noticeable (there is a little at the beginning of the film, and also a little around reel changes, but very little overall). Colours look fresh and vibrant, and the image is pin-sharp, enabling the viewer to fully appreciate Oshima's gorgeous compositions. The print used is obviously from a French source, bearing as it does the French title and credits. The subtitles are burnt in, which may annoy some people, but they are very clear and well translated. However, there are two 'buts' I'm afraid... The film should be presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. Instead, this transfer is in about 1.85:1 (non-anamorphic). I'm not sure how or why this has arisen, as no other major release of the film that I know of has been presented in this ratio. The laserdisc release was very slightly letterboxed, whilst there are two US DVD releases (from Fox Lorber, purveyors of quality... not) - one is pan-and-scan (the subtitled one) whilst the other is 1.66:1 (the dubbed one sadly). Both of the US DVD's are lacking in quality and have other issues with the dubbing/subtitling, so it had been hoped that the UK release would provide a definitive DVD. Sadly, it can't really be regarded as such. It is certainly an improvement in terms of image quality, but the incorrect framing is a problem. No obvious loss of information is apparent, but it's a shame that more care wasn't taken with the transfer. The second 'but' is the re-editing of a sequence in which Sada pulls a young boy's penis. This scene isn't cut, but is digitally altered so that we zoom in to the boy's upper torso, obscuring what's happening below. This is in accordance with BBFC guidelines, and isn't really too much of a problem. However, it's another reason why the DVD can't be termed definitive.
Sound - 3
The Dolby digital mono is more than adequate, as the film isn't particularly reliant on sound - it's much more a film of images. The track is clear and sounds good (Japanese language obviously).
Extras - 1
A comprehensive director's filmography and a photo gallery (does anyone actually rate these things as worthwhile?) Maybe a trailer is very hard to come by for a film with such a potted history, but I would have thought that one existed. We also get only eight chapters for a 98 minute film, which isn't too impressive really...
Overall Rating - 4
A more-than-adequate presentation of a taboo-breaking classic. Nouveaux's reputation should be considerably improved thanks to this release, which is particularly welcome here in the UK, where very few Japanese films were available on VHS until recently, let alone DVD. AI NO CORRIDA is ground-breaking and shocking, but is something you are unlikely to want to watch more than once. On the other hand, it's a film that anyone with an interest in world cinema, or extreme cinema will want to see and this is probably the best way to do it at the present time. Hopefully, a definitive release will be forthcoming in the US, but that remains to be seen...

AKA
Ai no Corrida (Original Japanese title)
L'Empire des Sens (Original French title)
Empire of the Senses
In the Realm of the Senses

Alternative versions
The film is available on DVD in the USA totally uncut, though in two forms - one is a pan-and-scan subtitled disc, the other a widescreen dubbed disc - go figure, as our US cousins would say... It has previously been released uncut on laserdisc (by Image), in a slightly letterboxed form.
The film was banned for many years in the UK, but was passed for cinema exhibition in 1991, with only the scene in which Abe pulls a young boy's penis altered (in the same way as in this release). It was withheld from video release until August 2000, when it was finally passed in the same form. There was however a pre-VRA VHS release from Virgin which was uncut. Nouveaux have also released this print on VHS. 

 

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