Empire of Passion

Ai no borei

Trailer

Directed by Nagisa Ôshima

Japan, France, 1978

Drama, Horror, Romance

105
Japanese
Portuguese & 7 more

Synopsis

Set in a Japanese village at the end of the nineteenth century, the film details the downfall of a married woman and her lover after they murder her husband and dump his body in a well. With eroticism and horror, Oshima plunges the viewer into a nightmarish tale of guilt and retribution.

Our take

Somewhat tamer than his previous film In the Realm of the Senses, Nagisa Oshima’s substantially darker turn-of-the-century drama is a ghost story, recounting a love affair, a crime of passion, and ultimately, the slow breakdown destruction of a relationship.

Empire of Passion Directed by Nagisa Ôshima

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

1978 | Winner: Best Director

San Sebastián International Film Festival

2013

BFI London Film Festival

1978

Awards of the Japanese Academy

1979 | Winner: Best Music Score

1979 | 7 nominations including: Best Film

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Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

[Oshima] made no pretense of being a dependable auteur, with his work progressively questioning the very themes he seemed so dogmatic about in films made just a few years prior. PASSION is arguably the best example of this regeneration, as Oshima not only challenges popular conception of its companion piece, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (1976), but also some aesthetic choices that had been the only persistent motifs of his previous work.

Kathleen Sachs

October 24, 2014

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What are people saying?

mciszczon's rating of the film Empire of Passion
mciszczon

This is great. I love Japanese cinematography, it really has something to it. And this film proves it once again. An old's woman tale of love, passion, sin, murder... Tale of life.
January 24, 2019 18:27
- 3
- 0
Darko's rating of the film Empire of Passion
Darko

Some of most beautiful frames I've ever seen photographed on film.
June 23, 2016 17:47
- 4
- 0
tangoletal's rating of the film Empire of Passion
tangoletal

Excelente película.
May 15, 2016 22:13
- 2
- 0
Jeremiah Johnson's rating of the film Empire of Passion
Jeremiah Johnson

Intense!! Strong moral center with this one. The protagonist are tormented and punished all throughout until meeting their gruesome death. A cautionary tale about love/lust.
January 24, 2019 18:13
- 3
- 1
rociof's rating of the film Empire of Passion
rociof

Me recuerda a Kurosawa. Y cómo es que el amor es cuestión de otros, no nuestro. La recomiendo.
July 11, 2015 21:25
- 4
- 0
ghinnet's rating of the film Empire of Passion
ghinnet

It's fascinating to see how the seasons' cyclic nature interweave with the story, and how a natural landscape can have such an important dramatic role in a story that doesn't actually focus on it.
January 24, 2019 17:32
- 3
- 0
T. J. Harman's rating of the film Empire of Passion
T. J. Harman

An emotional ghost story about lust and guilt and a lot more. Oshima's subjective portrait doesn't let you disconnect from the characters and is the better for it. Beautiful and haunting.
January 24, 2019 17:30
- 2
- 0
VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS's rating of the film Empire of Passion
VENIMOS LOS JODIMOS Y NOS FUIMOS

Extraordinario film de Nagisa Oshima. Clasico del cine japonès de los 70, este film fantasmal pleno de sutil erotismo y critica social trasciende las convenciones del cine de horror y resulta ser toda una experiencia audiovisual. La musica de Toru Takemitsu no tiene madre.
January 24, 2019 15:13
- 6
- 0