IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES
aka AI NO CORRIDA aka L'EMPIRE DES SENS

Year: 1975
UK: BFI Films
Cast: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui, Meika Seri, Kanae Kobyashi, Taiji Tonoyama, Kyoji Kokonae, Naomi Shiraishi, Shinkichi Noda, Komikichi Hari, Kikuhei Matsunoya, Akiko Koyama, Yuriko Azuma, Rei Minami, Machiko Aoki, Mariko Abe, KyOko Okada, Kiyami Yasuda, Hiroko Fuji, Tami Mitsubashi, Kumiko Ishii, Katsue Tamiyama, Hitomi Tsukuhara
Director: Nagisa Oshima
Countries: France / Japan
Language: Japanese
UK: 108 mins
UK Certificate: 18 - passed with some optical reframing in accordance with the Protection of Children Act 1978
UK Certificate (2009): 18 contains strong real sex, bloody mutilation and sexual fetish theme
UK Release Date: 3 November 2000
UK Release Date: 28 August 2009 (Limited Re-release)
UK Distributor
UK Distributor

Synopsis

This erotic masterpiece from director Nagisa Oshima is a rigorous but surprisingly tender account of the ever-deepening sexual obsession of a couple who remove themselves from an increasingly military orientated society (Japan, 1936) and devote themselves to exploring a world of unadulterated desire.

The film is physically explicit, hence the '18' certificate and the fact that it has been banned in quite a few countries, including the New York Film Festival.