Review of In the Realm of the Senses (1976) by Alex S — 04 May 2009

Okay, this one really lost me along the way - not in terms of plot but in terms of love for this film. No joke, this one appears on just about everyone's list of 1,000, 500, etc. best films ever made and I have no idea why.

Yeah, it is beautifully done porn (trust me when I say nothing, and I mean nothing, is left to the imagination with this movie) but the attempt at working in socio-political undertones or a message failed for me (sorry, but walking the opposite direction of the national army does not label you as the emotional outcast the movie wants you to be).

Then again, maybe the point director Oshima is trying to make is that the line between art and sin is thinner than many imagine and confronting that which society dictates as "obscene" separates us from our comfort zone until we turn away from the screen (in disgust?) and evaluate our own collection of senses and decencies.

I think I just gave a film depicting the true story of a relationship between two sex addicts in 1930s Japan too much credit, right there. It's competently done, sure (cramped shooting techniques but they work) and the players really give it their all (Eiko Matsuda really, uh, goes for a method acting approach) but at the end of the whole thing, I felt no connection whatsoever to what I had just witnessed (which, given the graphic ending, is probably a good thing).

By all means, give it a shot if you are willing to attempt to discern what exactly makes this top-notch cinema and then explain it to me if you figure it out.