Oshima in Words and Images
January 15, 2013
Film Info
- Japan
- 1978
- 105 minutes
- Color
- 1.66:1
- Japanese
- Spine #467
With an arresting mix of eroticism and horror, Oshima plunges the viewer into a nightmarish tale of guilt and retribution in Empire of Passion (Ai no borei). Set in a Japanese village at the end of the nineteenth century, the film details the emotional and physical downfall of a married woman and her younger lover following their decision to murder her husband and dump his body in a well. Empire of Passion was Oshima’s only true kaidan (Japanese ghost story), and the film, a savage, unrelenting experience, earned him the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cast
| Toyoji | Tatsuya Fuji |
| Seki | Kazuko Yoshiyuki |
| Gisaburo | Takahiro Tamura |
| Officer Hotta | Takuzo Kawatani |
| Shin | Masami Hasegawa |
| Landowner’s mother | Akiko Koyama |
| Toichiro | Taiji Tonoyama |
Credits
| Director | Nagisa Oshima |
| Producer | Anatole Dauman |
| Screenplay | Nagisa Oshima |
| Based on a book by | Itoko Nakamura |
| Cinematography | Yoshio Miyajima |
| Lighting | Kenichi Okamoto |
| Editing | Keiichi Uraoka |
| Music | Toru Takemitsu |
| Production design | Jusho Toda |
| Sound | Tetsuo Yasuda and Alex Pront |
| Production consultant | Koji Wakamatsu |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Double Obsession: Seki, Sada, and Oshima, a new video essay by film historian and critic Catherine Russell
- New interviews with actors Kazuo Yoshiyuki and Tatsuya Fuji
- An interview program from 2003 featuring production consultant Koji Wakamatsu and assistant directors Yusuke Narita and Yoichi Sai
- U.S. trailer
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by renowned critic and historian Tony Rayns and a 1978 interview with Nagisa Oshima
New cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Current Posts
Photo Galleries
Film Essays
Nagisa Oshima on In the Realm of the Senses
April 30, 2009
The following article, based on an interview with Nagisa Oshima conducted by Katsue Tomiyama . . . Read more »
Film Essays
In the Realm of the Senses: Some Notes on Oshima and Pornography
By April 30, 2009
The concept of “obscenity” is tested when we dare to look at something that we desire to see . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Love’s Phantom
By April 27, 2009
At the request of the author, Japanese names in this essay are given in their traditional . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Interview with Nagisa Oshima
April 23, 2009
This interview, conducted by Michael Henry, first appeared in the May 1978 issue of Positif. . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Nagisa Oshima on In the Realm of the Senses
April 30, 2009
The following article, based on an interview with Nagisa Oshima conducted by Katsue Tomiyama . . . Read more »
Film Essays
In the Realm of the Senses: Some Notes on Oshima and Pornography
By April 30, 2009
The concept of “obscenity” is tested when we dare to look at something that we desire to see . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Love’s Phantom
By April 27, 2009
At the request of the author, Japanese names in this essay are given in their traditional . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Interview with Nagisa Oshima
April 23, 2009
This interview, conducted by Michael Henry, first appeared in the May 1978 issue of Positif. . . . Read more »
Photo Galleries
Clippings
IN THE REALM OF JAMES QUANDT
June 11, 2009
Close Criterion collaborator and friend James Quandt, longtime senior programmer at the . . . Read more »
Press Notes
PRESS NOTES: THE NOTORIOUS OSHIMA REVISITED
May 04, 2009
Perhaps the most shocking thing about Nagisa Oshima’s infamous, hard-core In the Realm of the . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Nagisa Oshima on In the Realm of the Senses
April 30, 2009
The following article, based on an interview with Nagisa Oshima conducted by Katsue Tomiyama . . . Read more »
Film Essays
In the Realm of the Senses: Some Notes on Oshima and Pornography
By April 30, 2009
The concept of “obscenity” is tested when we dare to look at something that we desire to see . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Love’s Phantom
By April 27, 2009
At the request of the author, Japanese names in this essay are given in their traditional . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Empire of Passion: Interview with Nagisa Oshima
April 23, 2009
This interview, conducted by Michael Henry, first appeared in the May 1978 issue of Positif. . . . Read more »
Quotes
The Current Quote: Shohei Imamura
April 13, 2009
