In 1936, in the midst of rising Japanese militarism, a former prostitute, Sada, goes to work as a maid in a brothel. The house's handsome owner, Kichizo, soon begins to court her, and Sada eagerly returns his attentions. Their subsequent affair and constant lovemaking grow more and more intense, and their sexual obsession threatens to destroy them both. Nagisa Oshima's long-awaited erotic Japanese masterpiece (initially banned from the New York Film Festival in 1976) is finally available. Contains highly explicit content, recommended for adult audiences only.

Theatrical Release: July 17, 1977.

Film was to have been screened at the 1976 New York Film Festival, but was seized and banned by United States Customs officials in October 1976 due to its graphic sex scenes. It opened in New York City on July 17, 1977, after the ban was reversed.

Rereleased theatrically in New York City, for the film's 20th anniversary, in a new 35mm print July 12, 1996.

Blu-ray Disc Features:

Letterbox
Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono - Japanese
Subtitles - English
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes: Deleted Scenes
Audio Commentary: Tony Rayns, Film Scholar
Trailers: U.S. Trailer
Interviews:
1. Nagisa Oshima, Director - 1976
2. Tatsuya Fuji, Actor
3. Fuji Matsuda, Actor
4. Eiko Matsuda,
5. Hayao Shibata, Consulting Producer
6. Koji Wakamatsu, Line Producer
7. Yoichi Sai, Assistant Director
8. Yoko Asakura, Film Distributor
Additional Products:
Booklet: Essay - Donald Richie, Film Scholar / Oshima Interview

Distributor Notes: Still censored in its own country, In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no corrida), by Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, remains one of the most controversial films of all time. A graphic portrayal of insatiable sexual desire, Oshima's film, set in 1936 and based on a true incident, depicts a man and a woman (Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda) consumed by a transcendent, destructive love while living in an era of ever escalating imperialism and governmental control. Less a work of pornography than of politics, In the Realm of the Senses is a brave, taboo-breaking milestone.

Eiko Matsuda: Japanese Actress, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (1976)
Tatsuya Fuji: Actor - GAPPA

Nagisa Oshima: Japanese Director

"...Oshima has crafted an uncompromising portrait of obsessive sexual passion..."
"REALM's escalating affair of sexual obsession takes place in 1936....[It] remains a genuine feat of hard-core eroticism."
"IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES still has plenty of shock value...but there's a complexity and progression to the sex scenes that say more about this relationship than dialogue ever could." -- Grade: B+