L'empire de la passion
(DVD Video)

Originally released as a motion picture in 1978.

Based on the book by Itoko Nakamura.

A foreign film (Japan-France co-production).

Special features: "Double obsession: Seki, Sada, and Oshima:" a new video essay by film historian and critic Catherine Russell; new interviews with actors Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tatsuya Fuji; an interview program from 2003 featuring production consultant Koji Wakamatsu and assistant directors Yusuke Narita and Yoichi Sai; U.S. trailer; a booklet featuring an essay by renowned critic and historian Tony Rayns and a 1978 interview with Nagisa Oshima.

880-03,Cinematography, Miyajima Yoshio; editor, Uraoka Keiichi; art, Toda Jusho; original music, Takemitsu Toru.

880-02,Fuji Tatsuya, Yoshiyuki Kazuko, Tamura Takahiro, Koyama Akiko, Tonoyama Taiji.

1895, Japan. In a small village, Seki is the wife of the litter carrier Gisaburo. Seki has an affair with Toyiji, a man twenty-six years younger her. Toyiji becomes jealous of Gisaburo and plots with Seki to kill him. After Gisaburo has had plenty of sake to drink and goes to bed, the two strangle Gisaburo and dump his body inside a well in the woods. Seki tells the locals that Gisaburo moved to Tokyo to work. Finally, three years later, suspicions become very strong and people begin to gossip. To make matters worse, Gisaburo's ghost begins to haunt her and the law arrives to investigate his disappearance.

Not rated.

DVD, region 1, widescreen (1.66:1, enhanced); Dolby Digital mono, restored High-Definition digital transfer, NTSC.

Japanese or dubbed English dialogue; optional English subtitles.

Cannes Film Festival, Best Director, 1978.

Award of the Japanese Academy: Best Music Score, 1979.