Review: In the Realm of the Senses

Eiko Matsuda (who seemed to have a sad time of it after this film) stars as a former hooker turned hotel maid in 1930s Tokyo who engages in an intense affair with married hotel owner Tatsuya Fuji. The relationship becomes increasingly obsessive (and Matsuda becomes increasingly jealous and demanding) and fetishistic, as they both explore sexual boundaries.

Banned for 20 years in Australia, this 1976 film from Japanese writer-director Nagisa Oshima (who went on to make “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” with David Bowie and Jack Thompson) has me completely perplexed. Now that I’ve finally gotten around to seeing it, I’m still genuinely unsure of what I actually watched (On cable, if you can believe it. God bless Foxtel and World Movies Channel!). It wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but more importantly, I don’t know quite how to take it. Is it a porno? Softcore? An exploitation movie? Any kind of movie at all? And why are there so many cocks in this film? It should really be called “9 ½ Cocks”, so I hope you like your sausages, folks. You can certainly see why the film has been so widely banned, given we see not only blowjobs, but also their ‘happy endings’, among other kinds of sexual activity. If you want to watch lots of sex, this film gives you that. However, I must confess that even on this level, it’s not the kind of sex I have any interest in personally. I don’t like sausages, I’m afraid, and there’s not nearly enough from the Isle of Lesbos here for me to have gotten anything out of it on that level. Yes, there’s practically a lesbian orgy here, but the scene is much shorter than any of the hetero scenes, unfortunately, and not terribly sensual. Like every other scene in the film, it’s just fucking, it’s porno stuff. Hell, the women aren’t even all that attractive, and I can’t even believe I’m typing that.

Still, the sex is far and away the only notable thing here, and although not especially appealing to me (some of it doesn’t look terribly consensual), some might get something from it. But if porn is meant to turn you on, I was largely unmoved, and I would say a great majority of others would be too, so perhaps it’s not porn. It’s certainly not a legit movie, so I have no idea what critics have been raving about. As far as I’m concerned, subtitles don’t make a film ‘artistic’. It’s about 100 minutes of two people fucking, a string of sex scenes with practically no story. I don’t review porn, I review films (and yet here I am anyway). It’s got no more (and perhaps even less) artistic merit than a Hong Kong Cat III film (like “Erotic Ghost Story” or “The Weatherwoman”), but with more explicit sex and less humour. And less plot, if you can believe it. Anyone who says otherwise, is simply too scared or ashamed to admit that they like watching people have sex.

The film ultimately reveals itself to be a film about a sexual psychopath, with a basis in fact. The ending is a true disgrace, thrown in there for shock value, but more importantly, information has been withheld throughout. It’s supposed to be a story about obsession, but it’s barely a story at all, and mostly about horniness. Instead it’s just two people fucking, with the plot thrown in at the very end, revealing it’s about something more sinister. Perhaps if the film started at the end, it might’ve actually been something. Something unpleasant, but at least something nonetheless.

Absolutely horrible, with incredibly unpleasant characters lacking any development whatsoever. How the hell does this have the right to run over 100 minutes? Compare that to a film like “Room in Rome”. That was about two hours of people having sex, too. Yes, it was simulated and probably meant to be a far more sensual film than “In the Realm of the Senses”. However, it was still a film mostly concerned with two (gorgeous) people having sex, and yet it took the time to tell a story and even have the characters and their relationship involve. Their conversations were actually interesting. There was nothing interesting to me here at all.

Pretentious, one-note fetish porn, some of you might get into this, but I was severely disappointed. I guess its notoriety makes it something worth seeing once, but if you’re looking for a hardcore version of a Cat III Hong Kong softcore romp, you will be as disappointed as I was. Hell, if you’re expecting a movie you’ll likely be disappointed. But if you’re someone who thought “Memoirs of a Geisha” would’ve been a lot better if it had lots of floppy penises and auto erotic asphyxiation scenes, this might be the film for you.

Rating: D+