Customer Reviews:
Beautiful and tragic..........2007-06-14
Wow, it is so sad. I couldn't stop crying. It is undoubtedly a shock at first, being not at all used to seeing sex displayed so obviously on the screen. But, well I mean we are all mostly no strangers to the sexual act. So after you get over the initial embarrassment, the film is very deeply touching.
The actors are extremely convincing, even taking into account the poker-faced, non-expression that the japanese seem to practise. You see them spiralling down, further and further into the danger of addiction, of it never being enough, always needing more, a heftier kick. A gigantic itch that gets worse the more you scratch. It is so terribly sad because you know they will destroy each other with their love and desire and there's nothing you, or they can do to stop it.
NOT SIMPLY LEGAL PORN!!!!!.......2007-03-22
A very important piece of information that also needs to be added to these reviews, is that this story is completely true.
It happened in 1936, at a time when such actions becoming public would normally shock any society. Abe however was treated with mercy (given her fragile mental state), and after the initial shock died down, she became quite a female hero in her country.
I'm frankly appalled by some reviews I've read in other places that compare this to legal porn and nothing more, as they are totally missing the point of it!
Even if you had never seen any other film in your life, you could see the technical and emotional effort that goes into making a film like this compared to "cheap porn".
In fact, the two lead actors were quite negatively affected emotionally and physically, (yes, they really did begin to waste away like that, they were mentally damaged by the experience, which proves the devotion they had to portraying their characters well).
You cannot tell a true story without showing events that really happened, so the sex scenes you see, (which were not faked by the way...well, apart from the asphyxiation obviously) were necessary to show the depth of the obsession that had formed between the couple. Unlike films like 9 Songs, which include such things, and then shout about the "realness" of the pointless sex scenes, just to get attention for their otherwise cowardly, artless film.
Ai No Corrida (In The Realm Of The Senses...how it's known in Japan, and how you may find it written on the DVD case) is beautifully shot, the music is perfect and unobtrusive, the actors genuinely brave and the fact that the story is true makes the things you see even more touching.
Forget the typically Western reactions you will have read in newspapers and magazines when this was at last released after 32 years in 2001, and open your mind to a touching true story.
DIFFERENT AESTHETICS.......2007-03-14
The realm of the senses is a superb film that manages to show beauty in the most unexpected ways: gerontophilia, sexual obession, pornography and many more taboo subjects are treated in the film and conveyed with such good taste and elegance that one is left speechless at the end of the film. It is a pure visual spectacle with a great soundtrack and a good simple storyline. A film that I watch at least once a year.
I don't understand the other reviews.......2006-03-02
I have no problems with explicit sex-scenes in a well produced art-house film, but this is clearly porn (albeit a different cultural take on the genre), and as such it's pretty boring and lacks sufficient depth to be genuinely erotic. I ended up fast-forwarding to the end. If, however, you like nice-looking Japanese types indulging in non-stop "action" (mostly faked, mercifully), then this could be the film for you. Students of comparitive sociology might also find it interesting.
Explicit art.......2004-02-18
It was not, to be honest, one of the films in the world I have enjoyed the most. The Japanese fascination with pain is a bit odd to me.
But it is well made, and it proved an important point: that the western idea that sex or nudity must not be shown in a serious film is just wrong. It only seems wrong to show nudity or sex when the film makers are trying at the same time *not* to do it. If it is a natural part of the film, there is no problem whatsoever.
It is a pity that we can only see sex or nudity in porn films, for they are always attrociously bad.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful and tragic..........2007-06-14
Wow, it is so sad. I couldn't stop crying. It is undoubtedly a shock at first, being not at all used to seeing sex displayed so obviously on the screen. But, well I mean we are all mostly no strangers to the sexual act. So after you get over the initial embarrassment, the film is very deeply touching.
The actors are extremely convincing, even taking into account the poker-faced, non-expression that the japanese seem to practise. You see them spiralling down, further and further into the danger of addiction, of it never being enough, always needing more, a heftier kick. A gigantic itch that gets worse the more you scratch. It is so terribly sad because you know they will destroy each other with their love and desire and there's nothing you, or they can do to stop it.
NOT SIMPLY LEGAL PORN!!!!!.......2007-03-22
A very important piece of information that also needs to be added to these reviews, is that this story is completely true.
It happened in 1936, at a time when such actions becoming public would normally shock any society. Abe however was treated with mercy (given her fragile mental state), and after the initial shock died down, she became quite a female hero in her country.
I'm frankly appalled by some reviews I've read in other places that compare this to legal porn and nothing more, as they are totally missing the point of it!
Even if you had never seen any other film in your life, you could see the technical and emotional effort that goes into making a film like this compared to "cheap porn".
In fact, the two lead actors were quite negatively affected emotionally and physically, (yes, they really did begin to waste away like that, they were mentally damaged by the experience, which proves the devotion they had to portraying their characters well).
You cannot tell a true story without showing events that really happened, so the sex scenes you see, (which were not faked by the way...well, apart from the asphyxiation obviously) were necessary to show the depth of the obsession that had formed between the couple. Unlike films like 9 Songs, which include such things, and then shout about the "realness" of the pointless sex scenes, just to get attention for their otherwise cowardly, artless film.
Ai No Corrida (In The Realm Of The Senses...how it's known in Japan, and how you may find it written on the DVD case) is beautifully shot, the music is perfect and unobtrusive, the actors genuinely brave and the fact that the story is true makes the things you see even more touching.
Forget the typically Western reactions you will have read in newspapers and magazines when this was at last released after 32 years in 2001, and open your mind to a touching true story.
DIFFERENT AESTHETICS.......2007-03-14
The realm of the senses is a superb film that manages to show beauty in the most unexpected ways: gerontophilia, sexual obession, pornography and many more taboo subjects are treated in the film and conveyed with such good taste and elegance that one is left speechless at the end of the film. It is a pure visual spectacle with a great soundtrack and a good simple storyline. A film that I watch at least once a year.
I don't understand the other reviews.......2006-03-02
I have no problems with explicit sex-scenes in a well produced art-house film, but this is clearly porn (albeit a different cultural take on the genre), and as such it's pretty boring and lacks sufficient depth to be genuinely erotic. I ended up fast-forwarding to the end. If, however, you like nice-looking Japanese types indulging in non-stop "action" (mostly faked, mercifully), then this could be the film for you. Students of comparitive sociology might also find it interesting.
Explicit art.......2004-02-18
It was not, to be honest, one of the films in the world I have enjoyed the most. The Japanese fascination with pain is a bit odd to me.
But it is well made, and it proved an important point: that the western idea that sex or nudity must not be shown in a serious film is just wrong. It only seems wrong to show nudity or sex when the film makers are trying at the same time *not* to do it. If it is a natural part of the film, there is no problem whatsoever.
It is a pity that we can only see sex or nudity in porn films, for they are always attrociously bad.
DVD:
- I See a Dark Stranger [1946] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Greek Myths (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- John and Mary [1969] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Jungle Book [1942]
- Krakatoa, East of Java [1969] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Little Big League [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Louis Pasteur
- Mars Attacks! [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Mary Kate And Ashley In Action - Vol. 1
- Mermaid [2000] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
DVD List
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![In the Realm of the Senses [1976]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/2146VJ3Q5HL.jpg)
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The Ages Of Lulu [1990]
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Romance [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Empire Of Passion
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Intimacy [2001]
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L'Ennui [2000]
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