Ai No Corrida - In The Realm Of The Senses

1976 | France/Japan| Nagisa Ōshima

Based on the real-life crimes of geisha and sex worker Sado Abe, this fictionalised erotic horror film follows the relationship between Abe and her lover Kichizo Ishida, as they meet for the first time as employer and employee. After Ishida molests her, she becomes enticed by his brazenness and the two begin a fiery affair, delving further and further into romantic and sexual excitement. As their maddening passion for each other spirals further and further, their relationship descends into perverse experimentation, dangerous obssession, and ultimately, a deadly fatality. The film was available uncut during the nasties scare from Virgin Video, and was even listed as a video nasty in certain newspapers. It was seized during several raids and ultimately subject to destruction orders, mainly due to its scenes of unsimulated sexual activity, which would have fallen foul of contemporaneous obscenity laws.