Ai no corrida (1976)

Note des utilisateurs:

6.6/10   

Réalisateur:

Nagisa Oshima

Scénariste:

Nagisa Oshima (writer)

Release Date:

1 avril 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drame | Romance

Plot:

Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their...

Plot Keywords:

Desire | Pre War | Sexual Obsession | Obsession | Eating

Awards:

2 wins

Avis des utilisateurs:

Overshadowed by the pointless "art" versus "porn" debate!

Ensemble

Tatsuya Fuji	...	Kichizo Ishida
Eiko Matsuda	...	Sada Abe
Aoi Nakajima	...	Toku
Yasuko Matsui	...	Tagawa Inn Manager
Meika Seri	...	Matsuko (Yoshidaya maid)
Kanae Kobayashi	...	Old geisha Kikuryû
Taiji Tonoyama	...	Old Beggar
Kyôji Kokonoe	...	Teacher Ômiya
Naomi Shiraishi	...	Geisha Yaeji
Shinkichi Noda	...	Old Restaurant Man
Komikichi Hori	...	Mitsuwa Geisha
Kikuhei Matsunoya	...	Hôkan jester
Akiko Koyama	...	Mansaki Geisha
Yuriko Azuma	...	Mitsuwa Geisha
Rei Minami	...	Mitsuwa Geisha

Autre(s) titre(s):

In the Realm of the Senses (Canada: English title) (USA)
Ai no corrida 2000 (Japan) (reissue title)
Bullfight of Love (Japan) (literal English title)
Empire of the Senses
L'empire des sens (France)
The Realm of the Senses

Durée:

UK:109 min | 108 min (original version) | Argentina:103 min | Australia:107 min (2000 re-release) | Norway:104 min | USA:101 min | Argentina:98 min (DVD version)

Pays:

Japan | France

Langue:

Japonais

Couleur:

Couleur (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1991) | Canada:R (Alberta) (1998) | Canada:R (Ontario) (1991) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | USA:X (original rating) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Iceland:Unrated | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1978) | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1976) | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1977) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1997) | Hungary:18 | Italy:VM18 | Chile:18 | Germany:18 | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2001) | Singapore:(Banned) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1992) | Finland:K-15 (DVD version) | Brazil:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:(Banned) (1992-2000) | Australia:R (re-rating) (2000) | Australia:X (original rating) | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:(Banned) | Japan:R-18 (re-rating) | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 (1999) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Japan:(Banned) (original rating)

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Argos Films

Anecdotes:

The film was banned by Israeli censors in 1987. The ban was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court. See also Jenin, Jenin (2002).

Guillemet:

Kichizo: You want to make love all the time, huh?
Sada Abe: You don't think it's wrong, do you?
Kichizo: I think it's wonderful. You're beautiful.
Sada Abe: I was afraid of not being like others. I was so worried about it, I even went to see a doctor. He said I was sensitive where sex was concerned.
Kichizo: Sensitive? I hope it's incurable. Because I adore your oversensitivity.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Gossip Girl: In the Realm of the Basses (#2.14)" (2009)

Overshadowed by the pointless "art" versus "porn" debate!

'Empire Of The Senses' is one of the least seen and much debated movies of the Seventies. "Least seen" because in many countries, including the one I live in, it has been banned, or only available in censored versions for many years. This movie divides people - those that like it hail it as ART, those that don't dimiss it snobbishly as PORN. Both camps are fooling themselves! 'Empire Of The Senseless' is BOTH.

Is it "serious"? Yes. Is it voyeuristic and prurient? Yes. Is it a masterpiece? Not quite. Is it worth watching? Very much so. In fact I'd say it was essential viewing for anyone interested in extreme or taboo-breaking movies.

The Seventies were the decade where the boundaries of screen sex, violence and disturbing imagery were repeatedly stretched. Peckinpah's 'Straw Dogs' and 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia', Bertolucci's 'Last Tango In Paris', Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver', Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange',were all milestones, and the the art movies of Herzog, Warhol, Pasolini, and Jodorowsky battled it out with the horror and exploitation of Russ Meyer, Dario Argento, John Waters,and David Cronenberg. Add to that the unexpected crossover success of 'Deep Throat' and the very existence of shockers like 'Ilse, She Wolf Of The SS' and 'Cannibal Holocaust', and what do you get? The artificial and meaningless divisions of genres, "high art" vs "trash", new ways of thinking vs new ways of making money, it was all on the table. For one brief decade it looked like a brave new world.

Then everything that was gained was lost - Spielberg and Simpson/Bruckheimer cleaned up (financially and aesthetically), and things have never been the same since. Watch 'Empire Of The Senseless' with that in mind. It may be flawed - you'll be alternatively fascinated and bored - but it is an important movie from an important period in movie history.