Produced and cut in France, but shot in Japan with a Japanese crew and cast, this is very much a French movie. It would've been illegal in Japan and Oshima was actually in hot waters for 2 years because of it. Given how en vogue erotic movies such as Emanuelle were in Europe back then, all this explains how graphic the film is. I have a feeling that to one up Last Tango In Paris and generate buzz with a 'scandalous' movie was the goal. So although quite good (I wouldn't go as far as to call this artsy), it's fair to use the term 'pornographic' to describe it. I personally don't have a problem with nudity, and believe it to be appropriate to tell this story, but, like some, I feel that Oshima went a bit too far and that the story ends up taking a backseat to the pure shock factor. This is too bad because the events actually took place and present a nice case study on sexual obsession. The French title "L'Empire des Sens" clearly suggests that the protagonists are moved by destructive forces outside their control. Since the movie is so voyeuristic, I wish we had been made privy to the character's thoughts and feelings instead of being treated to a mere series of acts (in what appears to be a rather libertine society). What drove Kichi away from his wife? What did Sada find so irresistible in Kichi (she's a former prostitute and therefore very experienced)? We're just shown bodies and are mostly left to speculate. Similarly, the scene where Kichi goes to Sada against the current of a military parade is supposed to show how different from most of Japan (a nation marching as one towards its ruin in WWII) the characters' motivations (individualism, abandon to personal impulses) are. But while little in the physical realm is left to the imagination, pretty much everything else seems reserved to the subtext.