Empire of Passion

3/26/19791h 45m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The haunting of a passionate love. ~

Overview:

In a small Japanese village at the end of the 19th century, a rickshaw driver's wife takes on a much younger lover and the two conspire to murder him.

Director:

Nagisa Ōshima

Status:

Released

Language:

Japanese

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

regret
husband wife relationship
based on novel or book
sexual obsession
suspicion of murder
love
revenge
unfaithfulness
strangulation
hanging
vengeful ghost
older woman younger man relationship
pink film
ghost
rickshaw
flogging
tortured to death
japanese family
guilty conscience
crime of passion
meiji period
abandoned well
adulterous wife
leaves
haunting dreams
erotic romance
1890s
ghostly hauntings
haunted woods
snowfall

Cast

Takahiro Tamura

~ as ~

Gisaburo

Kazuko Yoshiyuki

~ as ~

Seki

Tatsuya Fuji

~ as ~

Toyoji

Takuzō Kawatani

~ as ~

Inspector Hotta

Akiko Koyama

~ as ~

Young Master's Mother

Taiji Tonoyama

~ as ~

Toichiro

Kenzō Kawarasaki

~ as ~

Young Master

Sumie Sasaki

~ as ~

Odame

Eizō Kitamura

~ as ~

Takaaki Sugiura

~ as ~

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

t
talisencrw
Written 9 year(s) ago
9
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!...