Rating: 
Summary: I HAVENT SEEN THIS YET...
Review: ....BUT I HAVE READ MOST OF THE REVIEWS...I THINK THE POINT I AM TRYING TO GET ACROSS IS THAT THIS WAS NOT MEANT TO BE A PORN...IT WAS MEANT TO BE ART...JUST BECAUSE MODERN AMERICAN SOCIETY VIEWS NUDITY IN FILM AS WRONG OR IMMORAL, DOES NOT MEAN THERE'S ANY REASON TO DOWN A FOREIGN FEATURE WHERE THIS IS AN EVERYDAY ISSUE...THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME...
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Summary: I'm totally speechless.
Review: Apart from the ending, everything in this movie is real. You have to see at least one real movie about love and fatal obsession in your life, and well, that Michael Douglas - Glenn Close movies wont cut it. ( get it - cut it?? ). Anyway, if your quest for erotica doesn't venture past the teletubbies, then it's probably a good idea that you don't see this flick. But if you totally open minded, you will see a movie that was years ahead of it's time. You will never see Erotica with this kind of acting and script ever again. If this is the uncut version, and you're a guy watching it with somebody, I'd suggest you wear thick jeans or bring a pillow, you'll see why.
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Summary: Solid Sophmore Debut...
Review: I am in agreement with my fellow reviewer on this page. I am astonished that this movie isn't yet released on DVD. Coming of age story featuring Larenz Tate as a sheltered, introverted pyromaniac teenager, who's best friend is a doll. During summer of 1977, teenager takes family-trip north to Martha's Vineyard, to visit extended family. Larenz Tate, was a little old for this role, even in 94, but he is convincing enough to pull it off. During this trip Tate's character is faced with several issues, including sex and adulthood. He forges a relationship with a neighboring therapist, who explains that being different is not really that bad. He starts to explore his new found sexuality with a naive vulnerability. He succumbs to the selfish demands of the Jada Pinkett character, Laura, who has her own use for Tate. Joe Morton and Glynn Turman, as always give enjoyable performances. Both characters are memorable, since they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Turman, the staunch conservative, and Morton, the ultra-liberal ex Black Panther, who's views clash with Turman. Contrary to what Spike Lee says, this movie is entertaining and funny!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Pornography? It doesn't matter!
Review: I don't want to try and write any kind of review about whether or not this movie is pornography. Frankly, it doesn't matter whether or not is pornographic in nature. I don't even care that there was as much sex in it as there was.What bothers me is simply this: there isn't a story. I watched this movie after hearing many different things from many different people--I was told that it was a beautiful story about love, a disturbing story about obsession, a freaky naughty movie, and a brilliant artistic movie. People told me all these things and I watched it hoping to see strong characters and a powerful plot. The graphic sex isn't my complaint. Or even the fact that Oshima filmed real sexual acts instead of simulated ones (although that is, to me, a very troubling fact). My complaint is that the movie is an hour and forty minutes, but only about five minutes of that time is spent trying to get us to have any compassion for the characters. The rest of it is spent on sex scenes that never seem to work together to create any semblance of a story. What are their motivations? Who knows--it seems like they just want to have sex. Their dreams? Who cares--they're having lots of sex. Are they in love? Who could tell--all they do is have sex and obsess with each other. What are their personalities like, I wonder? You'll never figure it out--the movie spends all of two scenes trying to describe what kinds of people our hero/heroine are. The best I can understand is this: the woman likes to have lots of sex (I'm not being repetitive here--that's actually the line of dialogue that comes out of her mouth), and the man... well, they didn't really talk much about him. But my guess is that his personality involves sex. If you want a movie that is disturbing, then by all means watch this one. Oshima does a great job of creating something bizarre and disjarring, but he hardly creates something important (or even entertaining). By the end of the movie, you don't feel as if you have just gained anything from viewing it. Instead, it feels like you've just watched two people have lots of sex... and that's about it. People have made much of the beauty of this film, but it is neither erotic or meaningful. With flat characters and non-stop sex sequences (not to mention the aimless, gratuitous rape scenes), it seems less like a movie and more like a documentary on the Nature channel. Swap the Japanese setting with the Serengeti and you'll quickly find yourself wondering why we're calling this movie such a wonderful achievement in cinema. ...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting movie...
Review: I have to say that this movie is most certainly not one for everyone. That's quite obvious from it's NC-17 rating, and the fact that it was banned for quite some time. But aside from that.... It's an interesting movie about obsession and sex. The characters don't really get too deep, and you don't necessarily feel much sympathy for them, but that's part of the point of the film. You're supposed to feel the obsession, and the fact that the two lovers really only ever have sex on their minds, that it's taken over their lives. It's graphic, violent even, with tons of sex... But if you know what you're getting into and can look beyond just the simple act of sex, you might find it a worthwhile movie.
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Summary: May Float Your Boat or Sink Your Ship
Review: Many of you looking at this particular item might be well aware of foreign cinema, in all of it's delightfully un-Hollywood sentimentality. If you've seen the movie - which I'll assume some of you have - you might have already formed a very specific opinion about it. Perhaps the reason why is because the subject matter is very extreme, and it'd be more than a little difficult to walk away and not feel something. Initially, I was disgusted. I changed my mind, and I thought I'd share my reasoning here. First of all, let's say for the sake of argument that the world has various standards when it comes to morality in any film dealing with adult issues. Some of you may have seen Lars Von Trier's "Dogville" and thought to yourself: "That's one skewed paradigm." Be that as it may, it's no less plausible than the cinematic - or philosophic - paradigm of Steven Spielberg. My point here is that we all look at and engage realities in a different way - and Japanese cinema is no different. In his revelatory book "Eros in Hell," Jack Hunter explores Japanese "pink cinema." This film is among hundreds produced in an odd era of Japanese filmmaking. Comparable with American "blue movies," pinku eiga moved to explore the boundaries of s*x as art, but also the psychological implications between the graphic evidence. It'd be easy to refer to this genre of filmmaking as horror/pornography; the more difficult path is examining it in the same light you might examine a film by Adriane Lyne or David Cronenberg. Their general aesthetic is curiously akin to Japanese pink films. So here's the breakdown: this film is, in my opinion, an exploration of s*x as statement which is then turned on it's head to direct it's audience in considering the right questions.
Jack Hunter's book will point out that this film in particular is an exception - in that while it shared a genre and a content with it's contemporaries, the bigger picture might actually have been a statement about pink cinema all together. Consider, as you watch, that the s*x is almost cartoonish in it's frequency, that the humor is dry and nonchalant, and that the ending lends itself to a whole different mindset. Without giving too much away, the end is similar to "The Night Porter," or "Dead Ringers." These comparisons are primarily in reference to the climactic scenes in each - where our hero and heroine (in spite the difficulty with which they hold the title) pull out of the outside world completely into some kind of isolated space. Up to this point we've seen our protagonists weather scrutiny and obstacles to be fulfilled. In fact we - the audience - have done most of the scrutinizing and castigating. I know I wasn't rooting for these people for the better part of their respective stories, but I felt as if I were driving them away into reclusiveness by lacking compassion for them. Only when each set of characters are alone do we start to feel less accusatory and unforgiving. We realize - or so the hope might be - that their's is a deep spiritual bond. One you might expect to see between to loveable Hollywood starlets in a romantic comedy. But that isn't exactly the way things are. Though this example is relatively melodramatic, you can understand why they have arrived at such an intimacy. They've reached that place with each other because we, the audience, didn't believe they could. We passed them off as s*x-crazed sociopaths. And honestly, they were. But I think a real interesting point the film made to me was how deeply they were connected in spite of the superficial s*xuality. This is a hard-learned lesson, and one you'll have to dig deep for. But consider for a moment that America doesn't own the patent on love stories, and that additionally love stories aren't always cute or clean or pure. Perhaps from the filmmaker's perspective love was an ugly, dirty thing - until it existed in a place where it was solemnly understood. And without the world coming down on the protagonists - from without the constraints of society or the status quo - their particular kind of love was much easier to understand. I'm not saying that you'll instantly say to yourself: "Hey, wait a second... that was just love, not graphic s*x." I just took it with a grain of salt and thought of it as a near-parody. The fact of the matter is that you can point out blatant exaggerations in a great deal of Japanese contemporary media, and this film is no exception. This obviously does not solve the problem of "just too much graphic s*x for my liking." "The Night Porter," directed by Liliana Cavani, is somewhat less intense. That isn't to say it's devoid of intensity, or that you'll have a nice dinner-date movie on hand. It is to say that the s*xual content is far less prominent - and miraculously it gets the same point across in it's decidedly more watered-down, Western way. And as far as I'm concerned, that message is "intimacy can't be readily depicted in cinema without alienating the audience, because ideally - intimacy is a very exclusive thing." It takes a patient person to watch "In The Realm of the Senses." It takes a lot of courage to appreciate it. However, save for the actors (or in the case of "In the Realm..." the real-life people it was inspired by) - don't expect anyone to completely understand the intimacy. This film will haunt some of you with that prospect.
Rating:
Summary: Serious Minded Erotica......
Review: Nagisa Oshima has achieved what few other directors have managed in dealing with the very touchy subject of sex, in this instance, with sexual obsession. If you plan to watch this movie for a cheap sexual thrill, you will be most disappointed. Oshima has drawn from a real incident reported in a 1936 Japanese newspaper. The film centers around the love between two people expressed physically, graphically, into realms of the senses where few dare to tread. And with good reason. This is a very intense film as it progresses from the attraction of two people through increasing experimentation in an effort not only to express their passion but to try to find the outer most limits of passion itself. Oshima must have had something metaphorical in mind but the journey as chronicled in the film also has retained the feel of the specifics. It's quirkey and eccentric. The backdrop of the story is as interesting as the story itself. It is an amazing spectacle to observe, giving the viewer a perspective on Japanese life not usually rendered but often alluded to in some historical accounts. One wonders what this experience must have been like for the actors. Oshima has managed what I have always believed should be done in order to treat the subject of sex fully and without shrinking from its' less savory aspects. This is serious minded erotica and quite unlike anything else on screen. The only other film I can recall that compares at all is "Taxi Zum Klo" which was autobiographical and starred a number of actual people playing themselves.Obviously a different catagory in that regard from what is going on here, but both films draw much of their power from explicitly sexual scenes without compromising the integrity of the story being told. This is a film experience that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: In the Realm of the Senses
Review: The best movie of life in japan i`ve seen and i have several. But they don`t reach this movie. It was very daring. ( I liked the crotch shots) My other movies seem in complete. This movie made you want to live there in those times!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Get the GOOD version...
Review: The version I bought from Amazon is the more expensive of the two offered (with the "World Classic Cinema" side bar on the front). Imagine my surprise when a Greek friend showed me her version that she got as a freebie from some Greek movie magazine, and the video quality is 10 times better! My full-screen version (which hers isn't) I paid money for looked like somebody hid in the theatre and filmed it with a camcorder. Her free version she got from a magazine is NOT full-screen and has outstanding picture quality. So obviously there must be a better, digitally cleaned-up version out there. I would try to find that one if you can. In the states, they're probably waiting until lots of people buy the fuzzy, grainy version so they can do a second issuing of the DVD with "improved video and never before seen outtakes!" and make the money twice from the poor saps who bought the first one.
Now, as for the movie, it's okay. Yes, it verges on porn at times, but compared to the porn I've seen (not a lot, but some), it's way weird to see real acting going on in the same movie. It does an okay job of exploring sexual obsession, but there are a few scenes that seem superfluous to the idea the film is trying to get across. You only have to see the female lead obsessing over her lover's... uh... "pride and joy" so many times to get the idea she's a little off-kilter sexually.
Worth watching, but nothing fabulous.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time or money
Review: There is defintely a movie here and not just about sex. It's about passion and needing over coming ones mind, and I'm sure we've all felt that way at one time, of course maybe it wasn't in Feutal Japan, but at some point. There's such a deep story here, and whenever the couple were away from each other I thought they would kill whoever was near them, because they needed each other so much. The Lead Actress shows her skills of what it's like being a sexaholic, and the Lead Actor shows how easily it is to be overcome by a woman. Anyone who rates this as a bad movie didn't actually think about the movie at all, and just counted the sex scenes (which there a lot of) but that's even sicker than watching for the sex scenes.
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