I just finished watching Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses and was pleasantly surprised that all the hype surrounding the film was true. When I first heard about it, I was sure that the explicitness would be one or two quick scenes added as a sort of fuck you to Japanese censors, but I was wrong. Hard core imagery is spread throughout the entire movie including some very strange scenes (an egg WTF?). As far as the film goes, as well as being notorious, it is extremely well made and beautiful to look at, excellently acted, the perfect art house exploitation hybrid.
The story of Sada Abe has also been filmed two other times to my knowledge. A Woman Called Sada Abe is a more straight forward Pinky/Roman Porno approach and very enjoyable as a Japanese sexploiter. My favorite adaptation however is Sada directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. His version takes the very dark subject matter and makes it almost fun, adding bright Argentoesque color and a surreal story telling style. Anybody who has seen Obayashi's other film House will recognize his directorial style. All three of these are well worth checking out for Exploitation or Art House fans, and for fans of Pink film they are absolutely essential.
