In the film IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES by Oshima Nagisa, we can not catch a trace of similarity to those cliché love stories where Romeo and Juliet show their affections implicitly and finally get together, pushing aside all obstacles and difficulties. Instead, there is extraordinarily explicit, intense, and stimulating lust between the two characters, who "do virtually nothing but pursue their sexual desires"(Peter Lehman). The carnal sexuality, as the main theme of the film, implies two sides of a coin: ideally returning to Eden where one can obey the instinctive desires and lightheartedly indulge in sexual pleasure, as well as suffering from Coitum Animal Triste – great void and solitude after extreme pleasure of orgasms. As Sada irresistibly drown in lust, deeper and deeper, she at last heads towards destruction with her lover.
In the realm of sensory pleasure, Kichi, as a masculine and patricentric symbol, is put in a weak position throughout; hence Sada's aggressive and possessive passion for sex becomes the symbol of awakened female self-consciousness. It reminds me of another film, Joi Niku Dorei (1986) by Katsuhiko Fuji. In this Japanese pink film, Kumi, a beautiful doctor, married her colleague Kitame. A misleading sex tape in which the heroine looks exactly like Kumi soon ruins their idyllic marriage, sent anonymously. Kitame thinks Kumi betrayed him, and thence has sex with the misconceived wife with brutalities and humiliations ever after. In the end of the film, with all misunderstandings resolved, Kumi turns down Kitame's begging for forgiveness. In a hotel room, she masturbates to orgasm in front of a DV she bought for herself, then wanders around Tokyo streets aimlessly. The film ends with a reflection of Kumi's pretty but slightly flurried face on a showcase filled with televisions in an electronics store. Trauma and lust changes Kumi, a conventionally gentle and virtuous wife, into an independent woman who discerns and pursues her instinctive desire. In other words, the sex-tape incident awakes Kumi.
In the context of women's sexual pleasure relying on pleasing men, Kumi and Sada resist male supremacy through sexuality. The difference is Sada opens to her desire at the very beginning, with the will and determination towards self-destruction.
La petite mort, meaning "the little death", is a French euphemism for orgasm. Ecstasy during transient orgasm does have resemblances with death: they are both extreme experience. In the end of the film, Sada strangles Kichi to death and cut off his genital. She regards it as the only way towards eternal sexuality, and in this way she and Kichi can be together forever. Death, self-destruction, and lust, seems to be Sada's final redemption.
Explicit sex scenes in the film are astonishing. In his book, Running Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body, Peter Lehman argues the difference between erotic traditions of ancient East and modern West. Lehman enumerates several features in western hard-core pornography: invariably erect penises, men ejaculating on women's faces, and moaning and groaning of women in ecstasy; either symbolizes man power or centrality of male sexuality. In this case, "women's pleasure becomes fetishized, not valued". Contrarily in In the Realm of Senses, Sada's sexual satisfaction is the only thing that Kichi values, as he says "No. But if it pleases you, yes," when Sada asks if he really wants she to strangle him. There are many shots of Kichi's flaccid average-size penis, and Sada always moans as an expression of her own pleasure.
In the Realm of Senses is a significant masterpiece, on account of both its extremely sensual, erotic, and romantic story and its distinction comparing with western hard-core pornography – it stands for women's desires.
In the realm of sensory pleasure, Kichi, as a masculine and patricentric symbol, is put in a weak position throughout; hence Sada's aggressive and possessive passion for sex becomes the symbol of awakened female self-consciousness. It reminds me of another film, Joi Niku Dorei (1986) by Katsuhiko Fuji. In this Japanese pink film, Kumi, a beautiful doctor, married her colleague Kitame. A misleading sex tape in which the heroine looks exactly like Kumi soon ruins their idyllic marriage, sent anonymously. Kitame thinks Kumi betrayed him, and thence has sex with the misconceived wife with brutalities and humiliations ever after. In the end of the film, with all misunderstandings resolved, Kumi turns down Kitame's begging for forgiveness. In a hotel room, she masturbates to orgasm in front of a DV she bought for herself, then wanders around Tokyo streets aimlessly. The film ends with a reflection of Kumi's pretty but slightly flurried face on a showcase filled with televisions in an electronics store. Trauma and lust changes Kumi, a conventionally gentle and virtuous wife, into an independent woman who discerns and pursues her instinctive desire. In other words, the sex-tape incident awakes Kumi.
In the context of women's sexual pleasure relying on pleasing men, Kumi and Sada resist male supremacy through sexuality. The difference is Sada opens to her desire at the very beginning, with the will and determination towards self-destruction.
La petite mort, meaning "the little death", is a French euphemism for orgasm. Ecstasy during transient orgasm does have resemblances with death: they are both extreme experience. In the end of the film, Sada strangles Kichi to death and cut off his genital. She regards it as the only way towards eternal sexuality, and in this way she and Kichi can be together forever. Death, self-destruction, and lust, seems to be Sada's final redemption.
Explicit sex scenes in the film are astonishing. In his book, Running Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body, Peter Lehman argues the difference between erotic traditions of ancient East and modern West. Lehman enumerates several features in western hard-core pornography: invariably erect penises, men ejaculating on women's faces, and moaning and groaning of women in ecstasy; either symbolizes man power or centrality of male sexuality. In this case, "women's pleasure becomes fetishized, not valued". Contrarily in In the Realm of Senses, Sada's sexual satisfaction is the only thing that Kichi values, as he says "No. But if it pleases you, yes," when Sada asks if he really wants she to strangle him. There are many shots of Kichi's flaccid average-size penis, and Sada always moans as an expression of her own pleasure.
In the Realm of Senses is a significant masterpiece, on account of both its extremely sensual, erotic, and romantic story and its distinction comparing with western hard-core pornography – it stands for women's desires.