Declaring yourself bored by a movie full of explicit sex may sometimes mark you out as a dreary pseudo-sophisticate, but in this case it’s fair enough.
Comment
09/01/09
In the Realm of the Senses (1976)
82
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:28
Fresh:23
Rotten:5
Average Rating:7.5/10
Theatrical Release:28-08-2009
Synopsis: 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... [More]
Reviews for In the Realm of the Senses
I still find In the Realm of the Senses impressive but it now puzzles and worries me.
09/01/09
Ai No Corrida is an undeniably powerful, stylish and impressive piece of work.
08/29/09
Top CriticUnsanitised, worryingly convincing in its sadomasochistic detail, this is seriously provocative cinema, a telling reminder of what it really means to be dangerous.
08/29/09
Top CriticAs the soundtrack moans in sympathy while the deep crimson colours dazzle in delirium, the entire movie comes desperately close to approximating the pell-mell emotional turmoil of sex itself. Not porn, sex.
08/29/09
Top CriticOne of the most extraordinary moments in screen history. Oshima's film widens and deepens the sensual realm.
08/29/09
Top CriticA graphic and extremely disturbing exploration of lust and love that deserves its reputation as a classic of world cinema.
08/29/09
It was made 33 years ago but Nagisa Oshima’s doomed lust classic doesn’t look in the least bit dusty. Quite the opposite.
08/29/09
Click to read the article
02/09/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
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01/01/00
Top CriticI can only imagine critics at the initial screening ... marveling at a 20-foot penis taking up the entire screen: "Oh yeah, that totally represents the patriarchy."
07/26/09
Like his characters, Oshima is determined to explore and transgress sexual boundaries, if they even exist, by posing a challenge to conventional morality. [Blu-ray]
06/28/09
quickly becomes as monotonous as bluenoses accuse it of being prurient
05/11/09
To paraphrase a crack from Pauline Kael: light the incense, perverts.
04/27/09
Baring much more than bodies, Oshima delves deeply into subconscious carnal desires under the influence of society, and the eternal human contradictions between liberating sexual impulses and erotic enslavement.
04/12/09
It's more sensational than it is artistically interesting.
06/27/08
Click to read the article
06/16/08
Top CriticAt best it's a thinking person's XXX flick; at worst it's as repetitive as a porn video.
04/09/07
No review available.
01/06/06
Latest News for In the Realm of the Senses
May 03, 2009:
Baring much more than bodies, Oshima delves deeply into subconscious carnal desires under the influence of society, and the eternal human contradictions between liberating sexual impulses and erotic enslavement. 
More...
July 09, 2007:
Baring much more than bodies, Oshima delves deeply into subconscious carnal desires under the influence of society, and the eternal human contradictions between liberating sexual impulses and erotic enslavement.
More...
March 24, 2001:
Oshima, poses with In The Realm Of The Senses the philosophically seductive question: Does a form of government dictate the way people have sex?
More...
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