Ai no corrida (1976)

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:

Caress | Sadomasochism | Extreme Sex | Explicit | Penetration

Awards:

2 wins

Avis des utilisateurs:

Get Over It

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) :

Bullfight of Love (Japan) (literal English title)
Empire des sens, L' (France)
Empire of the Senses
In the Realm of the Senses (USA)
The Realm of the Senses

Durée:

105 min | UK:109 min | Argentina:103 min | Australia:107 min (2000 re-release) | Norway:104 min | USA:101 min

Pays:

Japan | France

Langue:

Japonais

Couleur:

Couleur (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Canada:R (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1992) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) | Germany:18 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (1991) | Finland:K-15 (DVD version) | Canada:R (Ontario) (1991) | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2001) | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1977) | Iceland:Unrated | Hungary:18 | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1978) | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1976) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1997) | Singapore:(Banned) | USA:X (original rating) | Canada:R (Alberta) (1998) | Italy:VM18 | 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:

Shot in Japan, the undeveloped film had to be shipped to France for development, due to Japan's strict censorship policies.

Guillemet:

Kichizo: [talking to Sada] A girl like you can stab a man's heart without a knife, huh?

Connexions De Film:

Referenced in Shortbus (2006)

Get Over It

It's clear that a lot of people can't get past the explicitness of this film, which is a shame. I recall a lot of embarrassed giggling last time I saw it at the cinema. The art/pornography debate seems futile to me - this is a film about an obsessive sexual relationship/love affair and it tells it like it is. But it's about as far away from the likes of "Debbie Does Dallas 26" as you can get. The film is clearly serious in intent and there is a lot of beauty in it.

The subtle political content/context of the film is often overlooked - some of the few scenes shot outside the bedroom show groups of soldiers marching the other way from the direction our characters travel - and we all know where the rising Japanese militarism and nationalism of the 1930's led.

I think the best comparison is probably with a film like "Last Tango in Paris" which dealt with similar themes in a similar way - and was also probably also pretty boring for those with a short attention span.