Nagisa Oshima is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, talents Japan has ever produced. Disgusted with boundaries and all forms of repression, his films find humanity in the most extreme situations and the evocation of the most extreme human emotions: the brutality of POW camps in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, the nihilism of hoodlums in Cruel Story of Youth. His gift, the ability to look without judgement, has allowed him to be one of the most consistent and interesting voices of the last 40 years. Ai no Corrida is another standout in his highly productive career, maybe even the feather in the cap.
I'm dissappointed that most reviewers can't look past the sexual content in this film, even its advocates. Everyone simply states their opinion on whether or not it is art or pornography, as if it were some kind of ideological testing ground, an experiment. This is in fact a disservice. Oshima is not interested in pushing buttons. He is not interested in making arguments for or against sex in the cinema. Ai no Corrida is refreshingly liberated from all such considerations: it simply is.
Based on true events, the story follows the relationship of a nobleman and a mentally unstable servant who falls in love with him. The attraction between them is so strange that soon they are inseperable, in more ways than one. While other servants look on, bringing them food, playing music and even sometimes participating, the two lie naked in bed having almost constant sex.
In the hands of a lesser director this would be disaster but Oshima never sensationalizes the material. This is not to say the film is not explicit; it is. It contains perhaps the most explicit sexual images in the history of cinema. However it is all presented with such care and beauty that it makes the viewing of sex and the act itself seem natural.
Few films have ever been this intimate. We almost never leave the bedroom. Even as the other servants express disgust or begin to gossip about the couple, so entrenched are we in their world that it phases us even less than it does them. The actors perform their own scenes and everything we see is real. Sada and Kichizo's relationship is physical in a way that few people here could ever understand. In the west we associate love and the development of character with words, but this has never been the case in Asia. For them it less about arousal than a complete need for the other person. By making their bodies one and achieving mutual pleasure they each achieve ultimate knowledge. Language is an afterthought.
In fact, I would almost recommend watching Ai no Corida without subtitles. The plain naturalism of the spoken Japanese achieves a kind of unintended camp when put into English text. This aspect is not aided by Argos video's TERRIBLE translation, which feels like it was written+ by a cheap dimestore erotic novelist who has fallen full prey to orientalism. The bare intensity of the performances is spoiled. Words are exaggerated and are in some cases just plain wrong. *spoiler* Even worse, they did not translate the Kanji which is written on Kichizo's body at the end and the way it features prominently into the shot leads me to believe something important has been missed. * end spoiler* Until a better translation is available, you might be better off knowing Japanese before watching this. I have no doubt that many people's anger over this movie is an unintended bi-product of these misguided efforts.
Oshima looks on in compassion as the "obsession" of this couple begins to grow in strange and potentially dangerous ways. Again contrary to what most people have said about the movie, I do not believe it is intended as a morality play. In the west it seems to me that any "art" which features explicit sex must be seen as a condemnation of that act in order to be accepted. I think Ai no Corrida has something different on its mind. There is a quick but essential scene in which the two discuss their parents: Kichizo's mother died when he was very young and Sada was orphaned before she was 3. Here we get a brief glimpse at the pathos beneath their relationship. They are afraid. To let up for even a second is oblivion.
To me it seemed as though Sada's final acts were not accidental. I feel there was a mutual acknowledgement of where their relationship was headed and they were both ready for it. These two human beings were already destroyed. They found a brief escape from pain in eachother and enjoyed that escape to its fullest extent, with the knowledge that nothing lasts forever. Though there are moments of madness and cruelty during the escalation of their acts, the ending seems almost matter of fact. It is not performed in the heat of passion but slowly, with an air of regretful inevability, underscored by the use of closeups and Minoru Miki's haunting music.
Again, Oshima's gift: the ability to find humanity in the strangest of places. Ai no Corrida is not a film which condemns or exploits. Instead it is a profoundly sad, uncathartic evocation of deep loneliness. These two people needed eachother so much that they would rather be consumed by that need than continue "normal" life in a "normal" world. Disturbing? Yes, but isn't everything?
I'm dissappointed that most reviewers can't look past the sexual content in this film, even its advocates. Everyone simply states their opinion on whether or not it is art or pornography, as if it were some kind of ideological testing ground, an experiment. This is in fact a disservice. Oshima is not interested in pushing buttons. He is not interested in making arguments for or against sex in the cinema. Ai no Corrida is refreshingly liberated from all such considerations: it simply is.
Based on true events, the story follows the relationship of a nobleman and a mentally unstable servant who falls in love with him. The attraction between them is so strange that soon they are inseperable, in more ways than one. While other servants look on, bringing them food, playing music and even sometimes participating, the two lie naked in bed having almost constant sex.
In the hands of a lesser director this would be disaster but Oshima never sensationalizes the material. This is not to say the film is not explicit; it is. It contains perhaps the most explicit sexual images in the history of cinema. However it is all presented with such care and beauty that it makes the viewing of sex and the act itself seem natural.
Few films have ever been this intimate. We almost never leave the bedroom. Even as the other servants express disgust or begin to gossip about the couple, so entrenched are we in their world that it phases us even less than it does them. The actors perform their own scenes and everything we see is real. Sada and Kichizo's relationship is physical in a way that few people here could ever understand. In the west we associate love and the development of character with words, but this has never been the case in Asia. For them it less about arousal than a complete need for the other person. By making their bodies one and achieving mutual pleasure they each achieve ultimate knowledge. Language is an afterthought.
In fact, I would almost recommend watching Ai no Corida without subtitles. The plain naturalism of the spoken Japanese achieves a kind of unintended camp when put into English text. This aspect is not aided by Argos video's TERRIBLE translation, which feels like it was written+ by a cheap dimestore erotic novelist who has fallen full prey to orientalism. The bare intensity of the performances is spoiled. Words are exaggerated and are in some cases just plain wrong. *spoiler* Even worse, they did not translate the Kanji which is written on Kichizo's body at the end and the way it features prominently into the shot leads me to believe something important has been missed. * end spoiler* Until a better translation is available, you might be better off knowing Japanese before watching this. I have no doubt that many people's anger over this movie is an unintended bi-product of these misguided efforts.
Oshima looks on in compassion as the "obsession" of this couple begins to grow in strange and potentially dangerous ways. Again contrary to what most people have said about the movie, I do not believe it is intended as a morality play. In the west it seems to me that any "art" which features explicit sex must be seen as a condemnation of that act in order to be accepted. I think Ai no Corrida has something different on its mind. There is a quick but essential scene in which the two discuss their parents: Kichizo's mother died when he was very young and Sada was orphaned before she was 3. Here we get a brief glimpse at the pathos beneath their relationship. They are afraid. To let up for even a second is oblivion.
To me it seemed as though Sada's final acts were not accidental. I feel there was a mutual acknowledgement of where their relationship was headed and they were both ready for it. These two human beings were already destroyed. They found a brief escape from pain in eachother and enjoyed that escape to its fullest extent, with the knowledge that nothing lasts forever. Though there are moments of madness and cruelty during the escalation of their acts, the ending seems almost matter of fact. It is not performed in the heat of passion but slowly, with an air of regretful inevability, underscored by the use of closeups and Minoru Miki's haunting music.
Again, Oshima's gift: the ability to find humanity in the strangest of places. Ai no Corrida is not a film which condemns or exploits. Instead it is a profoundly sad, uncathartic evocation of deep loneliness. These two people needed eachother so much that they would rather be consumed by that need than continue "normal" life in a "normal" world. Disturbing? Yes, but isn't everything?
Tell Your Friends