In the Realm of the Senses

In the Realm of the Senses French LEmpire des sens, Japanese , Ai no korda is a 1976 FrenchJapanese art film directed by Nagisa Oshima. It is a fictionalised and sexually explicit treatment of an incident from 1930s Japan, that of Sada Abe. It generated great controversy during its release while intended for mainstream wide release, it contains scenes of unsimulated sexual activity between the actors Tatsuya Fuji and Eiko Matsuda, among others.

The film was released under In the Realm of the Senses in the U.S. and the U.K., and under LEmpire des sens Empire of the Senses in France. The French title was taken from Roland Barthess book about Japan, LEmpire des signes Empire of Signs, 1970.Strict censorship laws in Japan would not have allowed the film to be made according to Oshimas vision. This obstruction was bypassed by officially listing the production as a French enterprise, and the undeveloped footage was shipped to France for processing and editing. At its premire in Japan, the sexual activity was optically censored using reframing and blurring. ........

Source: Wikipedia