Empire of Passion

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Empire of Passion (1978)

A married woman and her younger lover decide to murder her husband and dump his body in a well.

Movie|Not Rated|1 hr. 44 min.|

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Title	Empire of Passion (1978)
Runtime	1 hr. 44 min.
Director	Nagisa Oshima
Country	Japan
Studio	Criterion Collection
Genres	Drama \| Foreign Language
Description	With an arresting mix of eroticism and horror, Oshima plunges the viewer into a nightmarish tale of guilt and retribution in Empire of Passion (Ai no borei). Set in a Japanese village at the end of the nineteenth century, the film details the emotional and physical downfall of a married woman and her younger lover following their decision to murder her husband and dump his body in a well. Empire of Passion was Oshima’s only true kaidan (Japanese ghost story), and the film, a savage, unrelenting experience, earned him the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival.