Empire of Passion

1978's Empire of Passion, controversial Japanese auteur Nagisa Oshima's follow-up to his 1976 film In the Realm of the Senses (a cultural bombshell that shocked audiences with its sexually explicit tale of an insatiable woman obsessed with possessing her husband), serves up another provocative (although not graphic) tragic love story, this time rooted in the kaidan tradition (Japanese ghost tale). Set in a peasant village, circa 1895, the supernaturally tinged Empire of Passion finds married fiftysomething Seki (Kazuko Yoshiuki) conspiring to kill her husband with the aid of her much-younger lover Toyoji (Tatsuya Fuji). But three years after the murder (the body is dumped down an abandoned well), Seki is haunted by her husband's benevolent ghost, setting into motion a psychological unraveling that eventually turns tragic for the illicit couple, who can't escape their ultimate fate. Mixing eroticism with subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle horror, Empire of Passion is a beautifully filmed, emotionally gripping film that draws parallels to James M. Cain's classic crime novel The Postman Always Rings Twice (and its many screen adaptations), explored in an excellent bonus video essay by film historian/critic Catherine Russell. Other DVD extras on this Criterion Collection special edition include new and archival interviews with several members of the cast and crew, as well as an accompanying booklet with an essay by film historian/critic Tony Rayns and a 1978 interview with Oshima (who received a Best Director award at Cannes for the film). Recommended. (J. Shannon)