Ai no corrida (1976)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Nagisa Oshima

Writer:

Nagisa Oshima (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | 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

Cast

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

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

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)

Country:

Japan | France

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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) (cut) (1977) | Finland:(Banned) (uncut) (1976) | 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)

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

The film was not submitted for British classification until 1989.

Quotes:

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 Shortbus (2006)

A powerful artistic film about 'the love of love'.

These two people representing the extreme examples of the masculine and feminine psyche lovingly devour each other into a downward spiral. The film gives you a voyeuristic look at love, and a couple controlled by it. From the beginning to the end, Oshima paints the emotional, sensually charged roller coaster decent into hell visually without the brakes. The further they pave their sexual adventures the further they travel into the point of no turning back.

Both forces essentially fighting till the death or at least holding on for dear life. This film is basically taking love and putting it on heroin. It is showing us the dependency, the loneliness, the pain, the absurdities, the withdrawal, the addiction of it. The film works at desensitizing the senses. This film is forcing us to give our definition of love.

The film demands us to look past the themes of the average love story. While the censors are busy looking for their scissors, the film nudges the viewer to begin questioning the definition of love/sex. The director tries to answer with rhetorical questions about the event. What could possess a couple to have sex for a whole week for it only to lead up to a severed penis? How did they get to that point? Wouldn't it have gotten kind of boring after awhile?

The actual sex acts shock the average viewer at first yet the longer we stay along for the ride the less we pay attention to it. Is sex about love or is love about sex?

Both. Yet I wouldn't call this pornography, nor would I call Hollywood love stories 'love stories'. Pornography implies the act of sex without feelings. This film fails to live up to that definition by showing us more than a small share of emotion behind all the grunts and moans. Sex is merely the background vehicle to this Japanese monster truck of a journey. Oshima wants you to walk away without any doubts at what happened during that week.

Getting over the skin of the fruit and right to the juice of it you will find that after digesting it, that this film is essentially a commentary about the bounds of love. Probably tasting something like durian.