
After reading Maureen Turim's book length study,
The Films of Nagisa Oshima, last year I realized there were several films of his that I still needed to see. Oshima died at the beginning of this year incidentally. At the top of that list was
Empire of Passion (1978). It is essentially the companion piece to his best and most (in)famous film,
In The Realm of the Senses (1976), which gathered accolades and was censored in Japan and elsewhere for it's graphic depictions of sex. However,
Empire of Passion is a radically different, as pointed out by Tony Rayns in his informative essay by noting opposites: urban/rural, shameless/guilt stricken, artifice/nature, exposure/concealment, female voyeurs/one frustrated male voyeur, male narrator/female narrator, etc. This story focuses on the defiance of Seki (played by Kazuko Yoshiyuki) a married mother of two and Toyoji (played by
In The Realm of the Senses lead Tatsuya Fuji) a discharged soldier 26 years her junior. They conspire to murder Seki's husband Gisaburo, a rickshaw driver in a rural village during the Meiji era. Oshima incorporates a ghost story into the film as Gisaburo haunts Seki and the villagers in their thoughts, dreams, and supposed sightings. The films takes place after the Sino-Japnese War and shows how the central government begins to affect people's lives for the first time, this is seen in the police inspector who comes to the village to solve the mystery of Gisaburo's death. Oshima employs a number of visual themes and motifs to great effect such as circles, the changing of the seasons, and long tracking shots. There are many striking visual images throughout the film. The artistry of the film reflects the selection of a veteran and proven cast with the likes of cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima (
Harakiri and
Kwaidan) and composer extraordinaire Toru Takemitsu (
Woman in the Dunes and
Pale Flower). The Criterion extras include:
Double Obsession: Seki, Sada, and Oshima, a video essay by film historian and critic Catherine Russell, interviews with actors Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tatsuya Fuji, an interview from 2003 featuring production consultant Koji Wakamatsu and assistant directors Yusuke Narita and Yoichi Sai, the U.S. trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns and a 1978 interview with Nagisa Oshima.
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