The Realm of the senses = Ai no corrida [Widescreen] (E)

The uncut version of the film which provoked a storm of controversy on its release in 1976 both for its explicit depiction of sex and for the final castration scene. It was banned in a number of countries and deemed obscene in Japan where it was not screened in its uncut form until the twenty-first century. Based on actual events that were suppressed at the time, the plot focuses on the relationship between a brothel owner and a geisha who retreat from the militarist Japan of 1936 into a world of their own where they obsessively act out their sexual fantasies. The film focuses on the shifting power play that takes place between master and servant as the relationship progresses. Oshima deliberately set out to expose the hypocrisy of Japanese censorship laws that banned explicit nudity and pubic hair but allowed sexual violence. Cast includes Eiko Matsuda and Tatsuya Fuji. In Japanese with English subtitles.