Empire of Passion (1978) Ai no borei (original title)

Director:

Nagisa Ôshima

Writers:

Nagisa Ôshima (writer)
Itoko Nakamura (story)

Release Date:

26 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

A young man has an affair with an older woman. He is very jealous of her husband and decides that they should kill him...

Plot Keywords:

Village | Well | Ghost | Japan | Adultery

Awards:

3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Tatsuya Fuji	...	Toyoji
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Seki
Takahiro Tamura	...	Gisaburo
Takuzô Kawatani	...	Inspector Hotta
Akiko Koyama	...	Mother of Landowner
Taiji Tonoyama	...	Toichiro
Sumie Sasaki	...	Odame
Eizô Kitamura
Masami Hasegawa	...	Oshin
Kenzô Kawarasaki		(as Kenzo Kawarazaki)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Akiyoshi Fujiwara	...	(uncredited)
Tatsuya Kimura	...	(uncredited)
Osugi	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Kei Satô	...	(uncredited)
Takaaki Sugiura	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Nagisa Ôshima

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Itoko Nakamura		story
Nagisa Ôshima		writer

Produced by
Anatole Dauman	....	producer

Original Music by
Tôru Takemitsu

Cinematography by
Yoshio Miyajima

Film Editing by
Keiichi Uraoka

Set Decoration by
Jusho Toda

Production Management
Shigeru Wakatsuki	....	production manager

Sound Department
Alex Pront	....	sound recordist
Tetsuo Yasuda	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Kenichi Okamoto	....	lighting technician

Thanks
Kôji Wakamatsu	....	with the cooperation of

Production Companies

• Argos Films
• Oshima Productions

Distributors

• Suomi-Filmi (1979) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Barbary Coast (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Irfan Film (1979) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (????) (UK) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Canvas (2007) (Belgium) (TV)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Forum Film (1997) (Finland) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Lorber (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Full Moon Entertainment
• Future Film (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Ripley's Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Sagres Filmes (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Ai no borei" - Japan (original title)
"In the Realm of Passion" - USA (video title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Japan | France

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (re-rating) (2004) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (1994) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (1994) | Canada:R (Ontario) (1994) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (1997) | Finland:K-18 (1979) | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/16 | Italy:VM18

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

While filming the scene where Toyoji tries to break into the burning house by ramming the door down, Tatsuya Fuji tore three ligaments in his shoulder and dislocated his arm. Three days later, he was back on the set filming the scene where he was being hung from a tree and beaten, with his arm still in a sling (although removed between takes).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Music for the Movies: Tôru Takemitsu (1994)

A haunting, poetic tale inspired by true incidents...

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** First, let me state that I am a huge film buff, but unfortunately somewhat new to Japanese films. I also want to clarify something that seemed unclear in previous reviews I've read here. The English title "In the Realm of Passion" appears to be truly an exploitive maneuver (probably by the director or studio executive) to lure the viewer into thinking that this is somehow related to "In The Realm of the Senses". It has nothing in common except that it's set in feudal japan, the plot involves a scandalous affair, starring the same leading male actor, and it's directed by the same director. the story and characters are not directly related in any way. I expected tons of steamy sex scenes, possibly involving the "in the..senses" characters.This is not that kind of movie.That having been said, I still liked it, and found it to be very haunting and disturbing at times.

BIG-TIME SPOILERS AHEAD In a nutshell, the story involves a boring, ignorant, (but diligent) husband who who goes about his daily business of providing for his family, which includes 2 children and a wife-who happens to be having an affair with a much younger man. Together their foolish passions ignite a ridiculous plot to kill her husband, after she gets him drunk on saki. They dump his body in a well and try to live their life as though nothing had happen. It isn't long before the village starts to doubt the wife's story about her husband being "out of town". Shortly after his death, the slain husband appears as a desolate, confused ghost, which tortures the now going insane wife. Soon an inspector arrives and probes deeper into the lover's tangled web...SPOILER END Even though the story is somewhat of a cliché, I feel it hasn't really dated. I found the tale truly creepy, and to me gave me a unique window into life in feudal Japan. I felt the undertone of a silent thriller, that would lead up to jagged little moments of shock, and suspense. I was slightly annoyed by the lead actress's "whiny" nature but thought, overall, everyone pulled it off. An interesting movie, that quietly grabs you, and slowly pulls you in. This may sound bizarre, but I kept feeling the same creepiness of "the Ring" ("Ringu") The well scene, themes of the undead, the ominous forest were all themes in comon with that thriller. Check it out.