Review of In the Realm of the Senses (1976) by Nuwan S — 25 Jul 2010

Ouch.

Also, I think there might be a little more than sex going on here, but not much more. Oshima studiously avoids contextualizing the event (most likely because Japanese viewers, who ironically cannot see the film intact in their own country, already know this story), which while fitting causes the film to tow dangerously close to the line of vapidity. Then, any hamfisted departure from the exploration of sexual obsession and power would cross that line. It was a perilous subject, executed as well as possible, possibly.