The British censor suppressed this intense tale of sexual obsession for nearly 15 years. It was finally passed by the BBFC, uncut, in 1991. Despite its extremes, Ai No Corrida (aka In The Realm Of The Senses) isn't exploitation cinema; rather it's a rarefied, hardcore slice of arthouse (or arty porn) that is about the obsessive eroticism as escapism. In 1930s Japan, the bourgeois Kichi (Eiko Matsuda) begins an affair with a prostitute, Sada (Tatsuya Fuji). The two spend more and more time with each other, their passion for one another resulting in marathon sessions of experimental sex and erotic exploration. It can only end in tears.

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