The Empire of Passion | |
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Film poster
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Directed by | Nagisa Oshima |
Produced by | Anatole Dauman |
Written by | Nagisa Oshima Itoko Nakamura |
Starring |
Kazuko Yoshiyuki Tatsuya Fuji Takahiro Tamura Takuzo Kawatani Akiko Koyama |
Music by | Toru Takemitsu |
Cinematography | Yoshio Miyajima |
Edited by | Keiichi Uraoka |
Production
company |
Oshima Nagisa Production
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Distributed by | Toho Towa |
Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
Country | France Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Empire of Passion (愛の亡霊 Ai no Bōrei?) is a 1978 French-Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. Also released on DVD by Fox Lorber Films in 2000 under the title "In the Realm of Passion" (probably to more easily identify it as a type of indirect sequel to the 1976 film "In the Realm of the Senses" by the same director).
The plot revolves around a young man who has an affair with an older woman. He is very jealous of her husband and decides that they should kill him. One night, after the husband has had plenty of shōchū to drink and is in bed, they strangle him and dump his body down a well. To avert any suspicions, she pretends her husband has gone off to Tokyo to work. For three years the wife and her lover secretly see each other. Finally, suspicions become very strong and people begin to gossip. To make matters worse, her husband's ghost begins to haunt her and the law arrives to investigate her husband's disappearance.
The film was Japan's submission to the 51st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film was entered into the 1978 Cannes Film Festival, where Oshima won the award for Best Director.