Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- eerie
- claustrophobic
- arthouse film night
- japanese cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly admire the film's gorgeous cinematography, period atmosphere, and psychologically intense treatment of desire and guilt, while finding it less sexually extreme than Oshima's earlier work.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Gisaburo's ghost returns after the murder and intensifies Seki's psychological and social persecution.
Seki and Toyoji's affair develops into murder through jealousy, sexual obsession, and inability to escape desire.
After Gisaburo's disappearance, village suspicion and rumor steadily close around the lovers.
The well, domestic interiors, and rural landscape become ominous spaces through stylized cinematography and ghostly intrusion.
Films like Empire of Passion, and why
In the Realm of the Senses
period erotic drama centered on destructive desire, infidelity, and fatal obsession
Kwaidan
stylized japanese ghost story combining doomed romance, folklore, and psychological dread
The Story of Adele H.
period murder drama where sexual obsession and guilt produce an atmosphere of inexorable tragedy
Movie Details
- Director
- Nagisa Ōshima
- Release Date
- 1978-09-06
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (141)
Cast
- Takahiro Tamura
- Kazuko Yoshiyuki
- Tatsuya Fuji
- Takuzō Kawatani
- Akiko Koyama
- Taiji Tonoyama
- Kenzō Kawarasaki
- Sumie Sasaki
- Eizō Kitamura
- Takaaki Sugiura
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Empire of Passion about?
- A clandestine affair in Meiji-era Japan curdles into murder, supernatural guilt, and relentless social suspicion.
- What is Empire of Passion like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Empire of Passion as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Empire of Passion violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Empire of Passion as moderate.
- What did critics think of Empire of Passion?
- Critics broadly admire the film's gorgeous cinematography, period atmosphere, and psychologically intense treatment of desire and guilt, while finding it less sexually extreme than Oshima's earlier work.
- Which films are like Empire of Passion?
- Films with a similar feel include In the Realm of the Senses, Kwaidan, and The Story of Adele H..
- How long is Empire of Passion?
- Empire of Passion runs 105 minutes.
- Where can I watch Empire of Passion?
- In United States, Empire of Passion streams on Criterion Channel.
