Nagisa Oshima: An In-Progress, Incomplete Overview of the Overlooked Japanese Master

[Derek]

Say that five times fast.

At least in the West, there may be no greater Japanese director to be left almost completely off the radar. Known mostly for his controversial porn/arthouse hybrid, In the Realm of the Senses (which remains his only highly touted pre-80s film to be released on DVD in the U.S. and unseen by me) rather than his various formally ambitious, stylistically varied contributions to the Japanese New Wave throughout the 1960s. I have only recently come across his work, so this thread will be merely an amateurish attempt to bring a bit of recognition and interest (at least to those with Karagarga) to one of the most exciting directors I've discovered in a long time. I still have several other films I plan to watch, so I will be updating more as I see those.

To kick things off:

http://www.gotterdammerung.org/film/reviews/c/cruel-story-of-youth/cruel-story-of-youth-09.jpg

Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

Sort of like a more twisted version of Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, with an equally compelling use of Scope and color. Oshima’s examination of alienation, sexual repression and the burgeoning youth-driven political movement of the 60s (left on the sidelines in this film, but the presence is felt) conveys a sense of entrapment as the central couple find themselves caught up in an endless circle of violence and guilt. Their relationship began with date rape and is sustained by repeatedly reenacting the initial tragic event on unsuspecting older men and used to rob them. As in Ray’s film, the youth here struggle to navigate the troubled, post-war waters, but in addition to finding no solace in the established institutions (the status of both the family and government in this film are irreparably damaged) and thus take to the streets in search of a new way of living, only without so much as a moral compass to guide them. With the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still lingering in the public consciousness, which has been tragically damaged by intense feelings of fear and guilt, the uncertainty in the future leads the protagonists down a dangerous path of self-destruction and violence with seemingly no end.

Rating: 8.0

[Derek]

http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/Guilt.JPG

Night and Fog in Japan (1960)

Enough left-right-left pans to make you dizzy, Oshima’s formally daring, rough-edged look at the faults and failed idealism of the left melds the personal, social and political into a claustrophobic, emotionally fueled film of accusations, faulty memories and empty social rituals. Oshima sees political revolution as a constant struggle with tradition and the near-impossible task of collectively organizing into a unified front with unanimous acceptance of both a political ideal and the means to achieve it. The crushing disappointments are revealed not in the nature of the ideal, as Oshima clearly stands on the side of the anti-establishment, but in the flawed nature of the human beings fighting for them, the pull of the comfort of the status quo and the growing divides that surface as both individuals and the socio-political context surrounding them inevitably changes.

Rating: 7.5

[Derek]

http://media.decider.com/assets/images/events/event/41512/violenceatnoon_jpg_595x325_cro p_upscale_q85.jpg

Violence at High Noon (1966)

Following the camera pans throughout Night and Fog in Japan, Oshima's rapid editing in this film is downright disorienting. And yet, where the camera movement in the earlier film was a natural extension of the verbal jousting of its characters, trying relentlessly battle personal grudges and emotional stresses while still uniting in political revolution, the barrage of POV changes and cubist visual scheme fits Violence's examination of guilt, retribution and twisted sexuality to a T. The damaged psyches on display could easily lead one to accuse Oshima of sexism, but that would deny the film’s metaphorical complexity and damning portrait of gender roles in Japan and woman-as-victim/matyr. Oshima’s rapid cutting doesn’t merely fit with its rapist protagonist off-kilter view of humanity, but mirrors the inability of its threesome to make sense of the senseless, to regroup during the aftershocks of the war and form a lucid world view in which life has meaning. Instead, his characters are left in limbo, a cycle of victimization and enabling that has tragic consequences to all involved. Editing so rarely plays such a primary role in both formal and thematic expression and here, Oshima uses some of the most dynamic editing strategies I’ve seen to show a side of Japan I’ve never seen before.

Rating: 8.5

[Derek]

http://media.decider.com/assets/images/events/event/41517/DiaryShinjuku1_jpg_595x325_cro p_upscale_q85.jpg

Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1968)

Stylistically, this is Oshima’s most Godardian effort, yet its hodge-podge of styles left it feeling too unfocused. An interesting use of kabuki throughout, but I think I’d need a stronger understanding of the political events going on in Japan at the time to really understand its purpose and effectiveness here. In other words, I need another look before I can say much of use about this one, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t remain the weakest of his major films.

Rating (for now): 6.5

[Derek]

http://wildgrounds.com/img/news/100ansoshima/23.jpg

Death By Hanging (1968)

Starting out as a vicious indictment of capital punishment, Death By Hanging eventually reveals itself as something far more nuanced, using the central issue to examine Japan’s extensive history of xenophobia and racism (particularly its treatment of Koreans) and imperialist/nationalist attitudes. Oshima’s Kafkaesque set-up – the condemned man, a Korean referred to merely as R., survives the hanging with no memory of the crime he committed, leaving the priest and executioners to struggle with the existential ramifications of being left with a living yet executed man – provides for more than a few hilarious yet incisive conversations about the extent of the state’s power over the individual as well as the absurdity of requiring the prisoner to accept his guilt before killing him. Like Cruel Story of Youth, Oshima leads his characters down the path of re-enactment, the executioners themselves becoming victims and family members in an effort to convince R. that he is indeed the same R. who committed the crime. The film intelligently leaves no doubt as to whether or not R. is guilty, but instead locates its interest in the factors leading to said guilt. What follows is a remarkably complex, formally rigorous, comically absurd denunciation of the Japanese government and the costs of centuries of repression on the souls of its inhabitants. R. is guilty, but as the reenactments suggest, his horrific living situation and environment is a direct effect of Japanese imperialism and its cycle of violence which has ensnared R. Oshima’s plea for morality and the value of human sanctity is never sentimental as he relies on logic and history to expose the extent of the damage done by a government hell-bent on making a show of its ubiquitous power over the individual.

Rating: 8.5

[Duncan]

Only seen Diary of a Shinjuku Thief. Agree it was a bit weak, and with the Godard comparison. But, like a sloppy Godard without all the formal precision.

[Beau]

Only seen Diary of a Shinjuku Thief. Agree it was a bit weak, and with the Godard comparison. But, like a sloppy Godard without all the formal precision.

So, Les Carabiniers.

[Cult]

Good thread. You've inspired me to check him out. Haven't even seen Senses.

[Derek]

Only seen Diary of a Shinjuku Thief. Agree it was a bit weak, and with the Godard comparison. But, like a sloppy Godard without all the formal precision.

One of the things that I've found particularly fascinating about Oshima is the fact that he's a chameleon stylistically. Night and Fog in Japan is full of long, repetitive sweeping pans while Violence at High Noon is mostly stationary shots, rapidly edited together. His color sequences/films use vibrant, eye-popping contrasts yet Death By Hanging is downright austere and minimal in its compositions. Diary is indeed sloppy, but the other 4 I've seen each have very distinctive and purposeful visual schemes and remarkably complex, layered use of mise-en-scene. That he's able to successfully employ such vastly different strategies from film to film is certainly one of the things that has drawn me towards him.

Don't let Diary stop you from checking out more. I could see you liking Death By Hanging in particular.

[Duncan]

One of the things that I've found particularly fascinating about Oshima is the fact that he's a chameleon stylistically. Night and Fog in Japan is full of long, repetitive sweeping pans while Violence at High Noon is mostly stationary shots, rapidly edited together. His color sequences/films use vibrant, eye-popping contrasts yet Death By Hanging is downright austere and minimal in its compositions. Diary is indeed sloppy, but the other 4 I've seen each have very distinctive and purposeful visual schemes and remarkably complex, layered use of mise-en-scene. That he's able to successfully employ such vastly different strategies from film to film is certainly one of the things that has drawn me towards him.

Don't let Diary stop you from checking out more. I could see you liking Death By Hanging in particular.
Cool. I like some experimental editing too so once I get high speed internet again (uh, like a year from now...maybe) I'll check out Violence at High Noon.

[soitgoes...]

Say that five times fast.

At least in the West, there may be no greater Japanese director to be left almost completely off the radar.
Oh man, that's a bold statement. Granted I'm only two Oshima film's deep, but there are soooooo many neglected Japanese greats here in the West. Naruse comes immediately to mind. Unless your French you are just as limited as to what you can see by him with English subs (KG notwithstanding).

I can't wait to read what you have to say in this thread. First I must eat, but then I'll be back with more to say!

[Derek]

Oh man, that's a bold statement. Granted I'm only two Oshima film's deep, but there are soooooo many neglected Japanese greats here in the West. Naruse comes immediately to mind. Unless your French you are just as limited as to what you can see by him with English subs (KG notwithstanding).

Oh well, if you classify Naruse as neglected than he'd certainly win. I saw a bunch of his films at the retrospective at UCLA a few years ago, so I forgot that outside of Woman Ascends the Stairs, he remains mostly unseen here. Still, since the retro in LA and NY, he has garnered a good deal of admirers and discussion, though certainly not as much as he deserves.

[soitgoes...]

Oh well, if you classify Naruse as neglected than he'd certainly win. I saw a bunch of his films at the retrospective at UCLA a few years ago, so I forgot that outside of Woman Ascends the Stairs, he remains mostly unseen here. Still, since the retro in LA and NY, he has garnered a good deal of admirers and discussion, though certainly not as much as he deserves.
I don't mean to undermine your statement. Personally I think most pre-90's Japanese filmmakers not named Kurosawa, Mizoguchi or Ozu tend to get pushed to the back of the line. It's a shame that cinephiles will dive head first into French New Wave filmmakers, and completely neglect what happened in Japan at the same time.

[soitgoes...]

Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

Sort of like a more twisted version of Nicholas Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, with an equally compelling use of Scope and color. Oshima’s examination of alienation, sexual repression and the burgeoning youth-driven political movement of the 60s (left on the sidelines in this film, but the presence is felt) conveys a sense of entrapment as the central couple find themselves caught up in an endless circle of violence and guilt. Their relationship began with date rape and is sustained by repeatedly reenacting the initial tragic event on unsuspecting older men and used to rob them. As in Ray’s film, the youth here struggle to navigate the troubled, post-war waters, but in addition to finding no solace in the established institutions (the status of both the family and government in this film are irreparably damaged) and thus take to the streets in search of a new way of living, only without so much as a moral compass to guide them. With the trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still lingering in the public consciousness, which has been tragically damaged by intense feelings of fear and guilt, the uncertainty in the future leads the protagonists down a dangerous path of self-destruction and violence with seemingly no end.

Rating: 8.0
Spot on review. Imagine being Japanese seeing this film when it first came out! This film is Japan's Breathless. It completely throws all the groundwork laid down by the giants of Japanese cinema out the door. Location shooting, hand-held cameras, a focus on the very fringe of society, and above all sex. There were instances where some of these appeared in the years prior to Cruel Story of Youth's release, but Oshima put it all together. His world doesn't follow cinematic morality where his characters learn some valuable lesson and correct their wrong-doings in the third act. They just are. Reflecting back, I can't seem to remember what I found to be negative in this film. I might give this another go.

Ironically, this film pretty much ushered in the destruction of Japanese cinema. Within a few years pinku films would be made based on the relaxing of sexual repression on film. By the 70's that would be the majority of studio output, thus putting an end to serious Japanese film (for the most part) until the mid-80's.

[balmakboor]

I remember vividly when Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence came out and everyone was saying, "Oshima? Isn't he a porn director or something? Hmm, he must be good though. Bowie only works with good directors." Then, the movie and Oshima (or should I be saying Nagisa) disappeared.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these as the Criterions gradually roll out.

[Grouchy]

I've only seen In the Realm of the Senses, but based on that one, I'd love to check out more. Death by Hanging sounds pretty good.

[Raiders]

I have no idea if it is a coincidence, but I just discovered that the AFI Silver has been having an extensive retrospective for Oshima. Of course, it ends this upcoming weekend and I have missed every one of the films except Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.

:|

[soitgoes...]

I have no idea if it is a coincidence, but I just discovered that the AFI Silver has been having an extensive retrospective for Oshima. Of course, it ends this upcoming weekend and I have missed every one of the films except Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.

:|
Well you could see that one, and then say you've seen David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano on the big screen together. Plus the film is supposed to be at least decent.

[Derek]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/09/26/movies/26boy.xlarge1.jpg

Boy (1969)

Known as Oshima's most accessible film and while it is, it's certainly not as straightforward as I was expecting. Based on the true story of a Japanese couple who travel throughout Japan flinging themselves in front of slow-moving cars and extort the drivers for cash under the threat of taking them to the police, Oshima further examines the disollution of the traditional family in Japan along with his pet themes of guilt, victimization and the circular nature of violence that has plagued the country since the end of the war. Boy is completely lacking in sentimentality, but is remarkably humane and compassionate, always feeling for the boy, but also taking the time to fully flesh out the mother's character who can be as callous and cruel as she can generous and protective. The father is a bit one-note, cast as a bitter wounded war veteran putting his wife and child in harms way without risking his own body, but what first appears to be sheer laziness is later revealed to be his own victim complex being passed onto his family. Oshima uses off-kilter compositions and splashes of primary color to decentralize the image, further suggesting the instability of the family unit and their lack of direction following the fall of the patriarch. Yet, despite this instability, the mother and son are often willing to play their roles in vain, attempting to reform a stable unit that never existed. The wonderfully evocative images convey the boys entrapment and feeling of displacement. Oshima never separates his bitterness from his loyalty, making the dysfunctionality of the family all the more horrific as the engrained gender roles allows the damaging act to repeat endlessly. They remain stuck in a nightmare doomed to spiral downwards uncontrollably, wandering aimlessly throughout Japan until either death or the police put them out of their misery. Essentially the antithesis of the traditional Japanese family found on film to this point.

Rating: 7.5

[soitgoes...]

I loved the first scene where we are introduced to the boy. He is playing by a statue or wall or something, and Oshima just holds the camera on him as we watch the boy in his own little world, imagining aliens or whatnot. Doing what little boys do. It's after that where we are introduced to what the boy's life is really like. Something very different, but he still is a boy, just living in an exceptional situation.

[B-side]

I've only seen In the Realm of the Senses, but based on that one, I'd love to check out more.

This.

[Qrazy]

I've only seen In the Realm of the Senses, but based on that one, I will begrudgingly check out more.

That.

[Kurosawa Fan]

That.

Exactly.

[Ezee E]

Exactly.
Word.

[Derek]

In the Realm of Senses is not supposed to be indicative of Oshima's earlier work, so I wouldn't write him off just because of that. I'll be getting to it in the next week or two.

[Derek]

http://www.bam.org/viewdocument.aspx?did=2023

The Man Who Left His Will on Film (1970)

Oshima’s most accessible film is followed here with his most cryptic. The Man Who Left His Will on Film takes Oshima’s political and cinematic concerns and puts them in a post-modern ringer, once again examining the failures of the student protests, and this time expanding to politically revolutionary cinema as well. The film is centered on the mystery of a short film made by a young revolutionary who may or may not have existed and ultimately reveals its penultimate concern to be the struggle to capture images in a way that stands apart from the mainstream and spurs viewers into supporting the counterculture. Its loose, cyclical structure leaves room for more than enough meandering conversations about fiction and reality as well as a couple of sex scenes that are uncomfortably cloying in their attempt to wow us with their sheer artsiness. What’s an interesting film on paper is a bit of chore to sit through and interesting as little more than a brief peek into the Japanese counterculture in ‘69/’70.

Rating: 4.5

[soitgoes...]

http://www.bam.org/viewdocument.aspx?did=2023

The Man Who Left His Will on Film (1970)

Oshima’s most accessible film is followed here with his most cryptic. The Man Who Left His Will on Film takes Oshima’s political and cinematic concerns and puts them in a post-modern ringer, once again examining the failures of the student protests, and this time expanding to politically revolutionary cinema as well. The film is centered on the mystery of a short film made by a young revolutionary who may or may not have existed and ultimately reveals its penultimate concern to be the struggle to capture images in a way that stands apart from the mainstream and spurs viewers into supporting the counterculture. Its loose, cyclical structure leaves room for more than enough meandering conversations about fiction and reality as well as a couple of sex scenes that are uncomfortably cloying in their attempt to wow us with their sheer artsiness. What’s an interesting film on paper is a bit of chore to sit through and interesting as little more than a brief peek into the Japanese counterculture in ‘69/’70.

Rating: 4.5
I've heard that this was both his most difficult, and depending on the review, most rewarding film.

[BuffaloWilder]

I've only just seen In The Realms of The Senses. Still marshalling my thoughts, as yet.

[Mysterious Dude]

Cruel Story was good, but it hasn't really stuck with me. I don't think it had nearly the same impact on Japanese cinema that Breathless had on French cinema. I think Woman of the Dunes might be more deserving of that title. Maybe.

I couldn't stand In the Realm of the Senses.

[BuffaloWilder]

Cruel Story was good, but it hasn't really stuck with me. I don't think it had nearly the same impact on Japanese cinema that Breathless had on French cinema. I think Woman of the Dunes might be more deserving of that title. Maybe.

I couldn't stand In the Realm of the Senses.

If nothing else, and while it might degrade it in terms of artistic integrity depending on your view, you can always watch it as purely pornography. It would work wonderfully, I think - perhaps even better than previously.

[Derek]

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j94/DSmith724/vlcsnap-110003.png

The Ceremony (1971)

The Ceremony, Nagisa Oshima’s multi-generational, epic microcosm of modern Japan as experienced through the Sakurada clan, is the work of an artist in complete control of his craft. Perhaps his most restrained yet sprawling work, The Ceremony is subdued, subtle and multifaceted in its vicious portrayal of a morally bankrupt country decaying beneath archaic traditions and rituals. Structured around various family ceremonies, particularly weddings and funerals, Oshima presents a systematically corrupt clan dominated by a cruel, hypocritical patriarch whose past war crimes and repeated sexual deviance have spread like a plague poisoning every member as the incestuous nature of their relationships mirrors the equally perverted ideals, such as the “pure and perfect Japanese woman”, born from the country’s extreme nationalistic tendencies. The perfect summation of all Oshima’s prior concerns, and a remarkably potent allegory that functions even more effectively on a small-scale, interpersonal level, the drama is vexing and textured, the images symbolic yet emotionally immediate, and its various themes explored with remarkable depth and maturity.

Centered on the experiences of Masuo, Terumichi and Ritsuko over the course of three decades, The Ceremony’s twisted logic plays out in the guilt-ridden love triangle of the three siblings, as well as Masuo’s Aunt Setsuko to add another warped element to these despairing, self-destructive familial relations, who struggle to force their family to confront their past war crimes and deviant behavior. It is a hopeless attempt to escape the ironclad patriarchal rule that has dominated the clan mentality and slowly crushed the souls and humanity of everyone in its path Lest I make this sound like a disturbing, sex-laden expose, there is actually relatively little sexual content as Oshima more thoroughly examines the troubled emotional terrain of the family members, playing the tragedy out in a series of harrowing, surreal, sometimes absurd, even comical, flashbacks to the clan’s supposed touchstones.

The underlying depravity of the Sakurada clan rarely surfaces to show its teeth, instead being revealed through the slow dissolution of its core members, their tragic links to one another invariably intertwined, ensuring that they cannot escape to healthy relationships as their desires and the indoctrination of their youth leave their fates in the hands of the clan’s traditions. Oshima’s portrayal of the depraved family and their bizarre dynamic reaches its peak in the brilliant sequence of Masuo’s arranged wedding. When the bride doesn’t show up, Masuo’s grandfather insists the ceremony must continue without her. Masuo pathetically enters the room, forced to pretend his fiancé is by his side and act out the formalities by himself. Oshima’s compositions capture this void, not merely as a physical emptiness, but a spatial embodiment of the clan’s (and country’s) moral emptiness, the shallowness and absurdity of its strict adherence to tradition and the horror of the collective willingness of the clan to ignore and overlook its own shortcomings. Following the ceremony, Masuo gets his revenge by continuing the charade in the presence of his close family members, grabbing a pillow and pretending to consummate his marriage to the dismay of his grandfather.

Tragic, hilarious and profoundly compassionate, this extended scene illustrates Oshima’s adeptness at subtly folding social commentary into family melodrama, using a variety of formal tactics (long pans, zooms, a complex non-linear structure) to communicate emotions deeply engrained in the characters and his uncanny ability to expose the consequences and cyclical nature of repression, guilt, nationalism and xenophobia. The collision between the personal and the political, the traditional and the modern, the tragic and the absurd is nothing short of remarkable. This is not only Oshima’s masterpiece, but one of the greatest of all Japanese films.

[Sycophant]

I very nearly bought and watched Taboo some years ago, but ended up buying a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film and following his career, instead. Also been meaning to see Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence for some years.

Gonna check out some Oshima post haste. Thanks, Derek!

[megladon8]

These are some fascinating write-ups, Derek.

Violence at High Noon and The Ceremony look and sound particularly great.

[SirNewt]

If nothing else, and while it might degrade it in terms of artistic integrity depending on your view, you can always watch it as purely pornography. It would work wonderfully, I think - perhaps even better than previously.

I guess some people just don't like porn, weirdos.

[Derek]

http://chicago.timeout.com/chicago/resizeImage/htdocs/export_images/217/intherealm.jpg

In the Realm of the Senses (1976)

Oshima's disdain for repressive social restrictions and the Japanese film industry as a whole seem more responsible for this film than any truly artistic motives or its innate connection to his prior thematic concerns. A work of rebellion and a genuine attempt to merge pornography and art to remove taboos, In the Realm of the Senses unfortunately never moves beyond the realm of obsession. Its reversal of gender roles empowers its female protagonist, yet leaves her out to dry as her aggression transforms her into a genuine psychotic. Probably one of Oshima's least impressively photographed film, it doesn't even offer the aesthetic pleasures of his more complex earlier works.

Rating: 5.0

[BuffaloWilder]

You know, in my heart-of-hearts, I don't think Senses was meant to be anything more than a 'booty' film. And, I'm fine with that. Every director should have at least one. At the very least, it isn't trying to 'desexualize sex,' as one director put it, like Shortbus or 9 Songs, or any of those films.

But, with films like this you walk a very high catwalk - if you "fail," it isn't just a failed artistic effort, it's bad porn, and that's no good for anyone.

[Melville]

You know, in my heart-of-hearts, I don't think Senses was meant to be anything more than a 'booty' film. And, I'm fine with that. Every director should have at least one. At the very least, it isn't trying to 'desexualize sex,' as one director put it, like Shortbus or 9 Songs, or any of those films.

But, with films like this you walk a very high catwalk - if you "fail," it isn't just a failed artistic effort, it's bad porn, and that's no good for anyone.
If it was trying to be genuinely titillating, then it was a spectacular failure. I assumed, based on the slow degradation of the central characters, that it was trying to "desexualize sex." The characters' obsession with sex, and the film's relentless focus on it, makes it all seem very rote, lifeless, and ugly. Even if it is initially erotic, by the time the two characters' lack of bathing is stinking up their love nest, it definitely doesn't strike me as being very arousing.

[BuffaloWilder]

If it was trying to be genuinely titillating, then it was a spectacular failure. I assumed, based on the slow degradation of the central characters, that it was trying to "desexualize sex." The characters' obsession with sex, and the film's relentless focus on it, makes it all seem very rote, lifeless, and ugly. Even if it is initially erotic, by the time the two characters' lack of bathing is stinking up their love nest, it definitely doesn't strike me as being very arousing.

Good sir, how can you call this living? :P

[Spinal]

To me, the point of In the Realm of the Senses is that the lovers become so immersed in each other than they lose touch with other people, the events that are going on around them and, eventually, reality.

[Qrazy]

The point of the film was clearly detachable penis.

[Derek]

http://www.criterionforum.org/caps/empireofpassion00004.jpg

Empire of Passion (1978)

A companion piece to In the Realm of the Senses, though beyond focus on obsessive passion, the two don’t have all that much in common. Oshima tones down the nudity considerably and relies on glossier cinematography to create an otherworldly fear for this ghost story to take place. Perhaps regressive for Seki’s succumbing to Toyoji‘s rape, though it’s clear she was flattered by his earlier advances and only resisted so much, Empire of Passion does at least even the playing field between his male and female protagonist in terms of their desire. Focusing far more on the aftermath of uncontrollable passion, with Seki‘s murdered husband’s ghost an insistent yet passive reminder of the price they paid to be together, Passion achieves a depth absent its predecessor as guilt and desire lead to a downward spiral to its inevitably tragic finale. While it’s certainly a notch or two below his best work, there is compelling imagery, particularly in the non-linear seasonal backdrops, and once again a brazen denunciation of social restrictions and the authorities enforcing them.

Rating: 6.5

[BuffaloWilder]

You know, having gone back to Senses, it really becomes arousing and unarousing in fits and starts. It's not really a straight line - it comes up after the shot of the old man's penis near the beginning, and falls down again with the rape of maid. And, on and on.