177: In the Realm of the Senses

When you’re as far into the list as I am at this point you’re pretty much desensitized to gratuitous sex and violence.  As such, it’s rare that I’m grossed out or overwhelmed by these elements in films.  However, Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976) did the trick.  The film is notorious for its stark depiction of a passionate sexual affair between a former prostitute and her lover, and for its incorporation of actual sexual intercourse and felacio on-screen.  It was so in demand during its run at Cannes that thirteen screenings were scheduled.  But while many view the film as an erotic thriller, I felt that the sexual elements of the movie grew old and tawdry before the end of the first act.

I’m hesitant to call this film pornography.  Legally, it has been upheld as otherwise and I respect that decision, as I’m not sure that the intent here is to arouse.  Still, I couldn’t help thinking of the wisdom of UCLA film scholar and author Howard Suber and his musings on pornography as I viewed Senses.  Suber writes in his The Power of Film that the primary problem with pornography is “keep[ing] people interested in a film that begins with a climax” (2006; p. 295).  To me he was on point in regard to this picture as well.  Scene after scene is almost nothing but variations on sexual intercourse, which frankly can get boring. 

            This isn’t a love story, but sex story, and as such it flies in the face of conventional film narrative, which requires the audience to come to sympathize with a character as he/she spends several acts trying to “get the girl [/guy].”  Memorable films in which the primary romantic paring takes place and is reciprocated at the outset are rare.  In fact, I can’t think of any off the top of my head.  What becomes clear throughout Senses is that this relationship is not about romance, but about obsession.  When Kichizo (Tatsuya Fuji) says to his partner (Eiko Matsuda), “Sada, lets be happy together forever” he isn’t in love.  He isn’t even in reality, and by this point it’s clear that there is only one way for this story to end.

            As anger and jealousy begin to take hold in the relationship, death seems to lurk around every corner.  Kichizo becomes jealous when Sada is forced to take on customers to support their sex-filled slothful lifestyle.  Sada threatens Kichizo with a knife when he briefly returns to his estranged wife.  As their relationship grows violent, so do their sexual escapades, often leading to choking during intercourse.  I’ll reveal nothing else except to say that the film’s final scene forced me to hold a hand up to block the screen and utter out loud, “please, no more.” Never trust a girl with scorpion tattoo on her earlobe.

            In the 1970s the gap between pornography and legitimate film was as narrow as it ever was.  This film is yet another example of that time when it was culturally acceptable to talk about Deep Throat (1972) around the water cooler, but anyone expecting strait eroticism here be warned.  Of the films I’ve seen for this list, nay of all the films I’ve seen, In the Realm of the Senses falls short only of Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) for a disgust factor.  I challenge any man to sit through the final scene without squirming.

Grade: 1 Hat Off