In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, 1976)

Based on a true story set in pre-war Japan, a man and one of his servants begin a torrid affair. Their desire becomes a sexual obsession so strong that to intensify their ardor, they forsake all, even life itself.

Nagisa Oshima (Death by Hanging) was a film-maker who directly opposed his peers in Japanese cinema, such a Ozu and Kurosawa. He thought their ways of telling stories and their reused themes of family and stale traditions was a thing of the past. He wanted to break taboos and do things no one in Japan thought was politically correct. His filmography is avant-garde and has stirred up a lot of controversy. In the Realm of the Senses was butchered by Japanese censors due to how it portrayed the insatiable lust between a prostitute and a hotel owner. It shocked the audience with unsimulated sexual activity, and bold nudity scenes. 

The story was lifted from a particularly gruesome real-life crime that happened in the 1930's, committed by a murderous geisha called Sada Abe. It's all a very fascinating read, though quite horrifying. Oshima delivers the story with intense eroticism and believable performances.  

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance

Empire of Passion (Japan, 1978)

A young man has an affair with an older woman. He is very jealous of her husband and decides that they should kill him. One night, after the husband had plenty of sake to drink and was in bed, they strangle him and dump his body down a well. To avert any suspicions, she pretends her husband has gone off to Tokyo to work. For three years the wife and her lover secretly see each other. Finally, suspicions become very strong and people begin to gossip. To make matters worse, her husband's ghost begins to haunt her and the law arrives to investigate her husband's disappearance.

Once again the restless spirits just can't stop walking the Earth. Here we have a rich mix of betrayal, violent passion and ghostly apparitions where the stark colors are almost popping out of the screen, and Empire of Passion has been said to be the spiritual successor to Nagisa Oshima's (who has one hell of a track record including Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence and Taboo) highly acclaimed In the Realm of the Senses (1976). He also has a way of not depicting sex as a toned down and overly romanticized act, but rather raw and honest. An empire well worth visiting.

The striking and beautiful French poster.

Genre: Drama/Horror/Romance