Given that this is a film about sexual obsession I expected a frank and honest depiction of sexual acts. And that's not the problem here. In fact I disagree most vehemently with those labeling it as pornographic. There was nothing of the cold, loveless, rote sex in porn movies in this film. It was filled with overwhelming passion and the kind of sexual hunger seldom seen on celluloid. Unfortunately it was so ever-present and overwhelming it deteriorated into boring. Once I reached the halfway mark I began to use the fast-forward button more and more. Moreover we were given no clue as to the motives that led the protagonists into an ultimately destructive passion. This was no routine love affair but an all-consuming, relentless, escalating bodily abuse by way of their sexual organs. And we don't know why it happened. In my view that's the film's Achilles heel.
Review of In the Realm of the Senses
