Ai no bôrei

1978 [JAPANESE]

Action / Drama / Horror / Romance

16
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 80% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 70% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.0/10 10 5683 5.7K

regret husband wife relationship based on novel or book relationship problems sexual obsession suspicion of murder

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Plot summary

A married woman and her lover murder her husband and dump his body into a well, but his ghost returns to haunt them as the local gossip intensifies.

Director

Nagisa Ôshima Photo
Nagisa Ôshima

Top cast

Sumie Sasaki Photo
Sumie Sasaki as Odame
Kenzô Kawarasaki Photo
Kenzô Kawarasaki as (as Kenzo Kawarazaki)
Eiko Shinya Photo
Eiko Shinya as
Akiko Koyama Photo
Akiko Koyama as Mother of Landowner
720p.BLU
965.93 MB
1204*720
Japanese 2.0
R
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 45 min
Seeds 7

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by talisencrw 9 / 10

I am a great fan of Ôshima's work

I am a great fan of Ôshima's work, though unfortunately I have only seen previously six films of his, all between 1965's 'Pleasures of the Flesh' and 1976's extremely controversial 'In the Realm of the Senses'. This, like the latter, was a period piece that looked at a doomed relationship (this time in 1895), though far less scandalous in its sexuality, though still titillating nevertheless. Exiled and forced to work with the French in order to continue his passion, Ôshima's storytelling, through Yoshio Miyajima's gorgeous camerawork and another exemplary soundtrack by Japanese scoring genius, Tôru Takemitsu, and remarkably passion-ate performances by its stars, Tatsuya Fuji (who separated his shoulder, his acting was so intense) and Kazuko Yoshiyuki (who, I must admit, has the most amazing nipples I have ever seen), was great, earning him Best Director at Cannes. It seemed a reverse noir, with Fuji's Toyoji playing the seducer, and Yoshiuki's once-faithful wife being persuaded to be co-conspirator to her loving (but not fulfilling her desires) rickshaw-driver husband, not to mention a fine ghost story, with Gisaburo's very patient ghost taking three years to finally bring himself justice, by forcing the community to press the horribly-incompetent (almost as inept as Doug McGrath's Sergeant Nash in the original 'Black Christmas'!) Inspector Hotta to eventually torture confessions out of the ill-fated duo. Another film to see with the person you love!...
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Reviewed by lee_eisenberg 10 / 10

grief, guilt, and sexuality

First I should note that "Ai no bôrei" ("Empire of Passion" in English) is the first Nagisa Oshima movie that I've ever seen. It struck me as part horror, part drama, as the woman has an affair and then decides to kill her husband, except that he haunts her. What I wondered was whether this was an issue of guilt or grief. Whichever it was, the result is one intense movie. In the interviews with the cast members, they described the movie as a sort of extension of Oshima's previous movie "In the Realm of the Senses". Having never seen it, I can't confirm that. What I can say is that "Empire of Passion" makes outstanding use of the setting - a small village in 1890s Japan - and the characters' sexuality (there's nothing gratuitous about the nudity).

All in all, I would now like very much to see "In the Realm of the Senses" and other movies by Oshima. In the meantime, I recommend this one.

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