In the Realm of the Senses  

Dir Nagisa Oshima / 1976 / France-Japan

Even before it was presented to the censors, IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES was already causing controversy. The Australian premiere was due to take place at the 1976 Perth Film Festival, but was pulled after threats from the W.A Government. The uncut premiere finally took place at the 1977 Sydney Film Festival, followed a short time later by Melbourne. 

The following article from CINEMA PAPERS explains the situation in more detail.

Cinema Papers - July 1977
Perth Fest Nixed

The recent demise of the Perth Film Festival has proved a sad, though perhaps inevitable, development, and could foreshadow similar problems for the world's small, independent festivals.

Bursting onto the festival scene in 1972, it quickly established itself as a highly innovative event which vigorously promoted the independent film. Initially set up by David Roe (who later joined the Australian Film Institute as its director), it was run for the past three years by Sylvie Le Clezio, with Roe as chairman. 

The ability of the organisers to piece together an exciting program was evidenced in their securing the world premiere of Louis Malles Black Moon in 1975; the screening of A Woman Under the Influencece, which John Cassavetes gave Perth after New York but denied Cannes; and the championing of Werner Herzog in Australia. Other Perth firsts included Fears Eats the Soul (Fassbinder), La Maman et la Putain (Eustache),  Pastoral Hide and Seek (Terayama) , Grey Gardens (Mayles Brothers), Serail (de Grigorio), Souvenirs D'en France (Technine), and Death of a Director of a Flea Circus (Koerfer)

It was, moreover, the only festival in Australia to gain admission to the International Federation of Independent Film Festivals, along with the Directors' Fortnight’ at Cannes, the Edinburgh Film Festival and the Rotterdam Film International.

Not at first endeared to the more established festivals, Perth made noises about what it called the lack of purpose and their poor record in helping films find distribution And while Perth's programs were too specialist to clash with the other festivals, there existed an apparent lack of co-operation. However, this eventually changed and the Sydney and Melbourne festivals leapt quickly to Perth's defence when it ran into censorship trouble in two consecutive years

In 1975, Perth successfully appealed against a ban on the Belgian entry, Vase de Noces, which the Western Australian government pressured the Commonwealth Censor into refusing registration, in a move that pre-empted the agreement guaranteeing freedom of censorship for festivals.

Not to be outdone, in 1976 the W.A. authorities threatened Perth with the physically impossible burden of having to submit every entry to the censor if it persisted in its intention of importing Nagasi Oshima's Empire of the Senses. The festival withdrew the film, only to see it shown without any fuss at this years Melbourne and Sydney festivals

The Perth Festival was forced into demise by its financial position, a state of affairs not helped by an unsympathetic Stale government which has said that it doesn't consider Perth's programming sufficiently middle-of-the-road. If it is, the government says, it will make money and won't need to be subsidized anyway

Although there are rumours that the festival may move interstate, both Le Clezio and Roe have declined to comment In the meantime, the numerous "letters to the editor" printed in The West Australian suggest a growing awareness of what has happened, though the chances of the organisers consenting to the revival of the festival - in Perth at least - must be counted as slim.

Following uncut screenings at the 1977 Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals, the film was picked up for distribution by Consolidated Exhibitors. In August 1977, the submitted 2946.9mtr (107m 43s) print was Refused Registration by the censors for reasons of indecency  The next month the Review Board upheld the decision of the Film Censorship Board, and the film remained banned.

Following the failure of the appeal, the distributor cut the print and resubmitted it. This 2821.5mtr (103m 08s) Reconstructed Version was finally passed with an R rating in November 1977.

Here is how CINEMA PAPERS described the censorship.

Oshima's L'empire des sens, the troubled history of which has already been well documented in Cinema Papers was finally passed by the Censorship Board. This apparently necessitated three cuts: the climax to the fellatio sequence; a shot of some geisha's impregnating a virgin with the tail of a china bird; and one close up of an erection.

The major censorship decision of November - January period was the passing of L'Empire des sens (Empire of the Senses) in a cut version. Originally listed, and rejected at 2946.90m. It has since been cut by its distributor Richard Walberg to 2821.50 mtr. These deletions total 125.40m or 4 min 34 sec. As mentioned in the previous issue of Cinema Papers, the cuts were of explicit, though never prurient, sexual scenes.

***

It was not until 1982 that it was back before the censors. This time Publishing and Broadcasting video were given an R for a print running 95mins (v). This came out on their Star Video label and runs 94m 03sec. Despite the cover claiming it to be uncut, it is actually censored, and dubbed. This version is actually quite graphic, including scenes of fellatio. The print however is quite dark, which tends to obscure what is going on.

In 1985, it was rated R once more at 95mins (v) for applicant Communications and Entertainment. Like the Star Video VHS, the CEL Video release also runs 94min 03sec, and is dubbed.

In October 1992 Forbidden Planet were refused a rating for a  97min (uncut?) print.

In January 2000 the Classification Board awarded an RC rating to the film ROMANCE due to the real depictions of sex. Potential Films appealed against the decision, and later in the month they were awarded an R18+ by the Review Board. This was something of a landmark decision, for the first time actual sex could be depicted in an R18+ film. This success prompted Potential Films to re-submit an uncut version of IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES. The 102m (f) print was passed R18+ (High Level Sex Scenes, Medium Level Violence, Adult Themes) on September 13th 2000. A theatrical release followed. In August 2001 the film was released uncut on DVD by Madman Entertainment. The cover played up controversial nature of the film.

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES
Madman Entertainment DVD
August 2001.

Often described as one of the only masterpieces of 'hardcore' cinema, Nagisa Oshima's Ai No Corrida (In the Realm of the Senses) has had a chequered history. 

The film's artistic merit is judged to be beyond question in most western democracies. This hasn't prevented it being banned in Australia, and the uncut version featured on this DVD is in fact the version originally intended by Oshima. 

Based on one of Japan's most notorious scandals, In the Realm of the Senses is the story of an ex-prostitute who becomes involved in an obsessive love affair with the master of the household where she is employed as a servant. What starts as casual diversion escalates into a passion that holds no bounds.

 After screenings at 1976 Melbourne and Sydney International Film Festivals, the film was banned for 12 months then released with cuts. When it initially reached the home entertainment market in Australia, it was in this cut form, with a dubbed English soundtrack. 

This DVD release is the first to feature the film fully uncut and with its original Japanese language soundtrack intact, supported by subtitles.

 Belatedly granted an "R 18+" certificate in Australia in its uncut form, the film's radiant beauty and impeccable portrayal of sexual politics deserves a warmer and more sensitive reception this time around. You be the judge.

In June 2003 it premiered uncut on the World Movies pay-TV channel.

Madman Entertainment had it rated again as R18+ (High level sex scenes, High level violence, High level themes) on October 18th 2005.

In March 2008 Umbrella Entertainment released the film on DVD. Despite having more extras than the 2001 Madman DVD avoid this release as the print has been censored. This version would seem to be the same as the UK release by Nouveaux. 

Thanks to Umbrella for the following clarification.

 We had several reasons for opting for this print, namely the transfer quality, and did not mention that the film was Uncut or Uncensored anywhere on the DVD.

Michael D's Review
Technically this is an uncut version of the film, however the print has been modified in the form of a brief digital zoom (optical reframing). This zoom lasts for eight seconds and occurs at 55:04 during a scene with a young boy and girl playing naked. The offending eight seconds has an adult woman pulling on the young boys penis as a form of punishment. Although the scene remains intact, the frame has been zoomed to obscure the act from the audience.

 This scene is complete in the 2001 Madman DVD.

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