When Japanese writer-director Nagisa Oshima’ s In The Realm of the Senses opened in 1976, the unrated, explicit drama played at the now defunct Mann Theaters in the Esplanade. Even though the film played in the last of three theaters, I always wondered what would have happened if some unsuspecting parent got confused. Imagine trying to explain why a subservient Japanese woman would fellate an older man, cut off his manhood, and then carry it around as she wandered the countryside.
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Already suffering from a self-inflicted black eye, it’s not surprising that the Catholic Church has denounced “The Magdalene Sisters,” a harrowing portrait of church sanctioned cruelty. Vividly written and directed by actor Peter Mullan, “The Magdalene Sisters” isn’t really entertainment but an indictment against an institution that is seemingly above the law and more than willing to dispense their own brand of justice. Read the rest of this entry »