The story is one of 20th Century Japanese legend. It concerns Abe Sada (阿部 定), of a middle-class Japanese family, who became a geisha and prostitute, took a lover named Ishida Kichizo (石田 吉蔵), and was convicted of second-degree murder and mutilation of a corpse after strangling Ishida to death in the height of auto-eroticism. Instead of being reviled after the murder, Abe became a cult figure in Japan, gaining the adulation of many for her reasons for committing the act. It was something beyond obsession; many called it, albeit gruesome, the ultimate consummation of love.
For Oshima, the story was more a political statement than a biopic, demonstrating a profound power play--between men and women in 1930s Japan where traditional roles were tested, but, moreso, between the lovers themselves as individuals. Abe's sense of self, through a hyper-reality embedded in her passion for Ishida, brings out layers of conflict that women, and especially Japanese women, found in expressing their personal power. In Oshima's film, Abe found great expression and voice through complete immersion in an intertwined sexuality with another. "In the Realm of the Senses" was also Oshima's test for the limits of Japanese perception--with the most explicit sexual scenes as a device to strip away imposed norms and moral restrictions.
The Blu-ray disc contains a period interview with Oshima and his bold stars, as well as current interviews with the production team and with Matsuda Eiko who played the tragic Ishida. It is also accompanied by a beautifully printed booklet containing an important essay on the film by the great Donald Richie.
The print is glorious. The soft grain of Criterion's beautiful transfer from 35mm film to HD video gives "In the Realm of the Senses" even greater beauty and, in some ways, takes the "edge" off of this provocative story. Disturbing? At times. But genius. Do not miss this landmark of cinematic expression.
(See the Trailer below from YouTube)
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