Film School: 5 films by Nagisa Oshima you should check out

“In the Realm of the Senses” (1976)

If you've heard of Oshima, it's likely because of this film. Shocking in its graphic sexual content, "In the Realm of the Senses" explores that murky gray area between high art and pornography like no other movie before it. Based on a real-life murder in 1936, the movie charts the obsessive, transgressive love affair between former prostitute Sade Abe and innkeeper Kichi Ishida that culminates in a crime of ... more 

“In the Realm of the Senses” (1976)

If you've heard of Oshima, it's likely because of this film. Shocking in its graphic sexual content, "In the Realm of the Senses" explores that murky gray area between high art and pornography like no other movie before it. Based on a real-life murder in 1936, the movie charts the obsessive, transgressive love affair between former prostitute Sade Abe and innkeeper Kichi Ishida that culminates in a crime of passion that will make every man wince. The film was so racy that the movie's undeveloped film had to be shipped to France in order to get around Japan's weirdly prudish anti-obscenity laws. When it did premiere, the movie ignited censorship debates around the world. Though "Realm" is well over 30 years old, it has lost none of its power to arouse and incite, move, and disturb. less