Empire of Passion (愛の亡霊, Ai no Bōrei) is a 1978 French-Japanese film produced, written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, based on a novel by Itoko Nakamura.[3][4] The film was a co-production between Oshima Prods. and Argos Films.[5]
Plot
In 1895 a rickshaw runner arrives home in a village in Japan. His wife Seki is sexually assaulted by a young neighbour, Toyoji. They became lovers. He's very jealous of Seki's husband and decides that they should kill him. One night, after the husband has had plenty of shōchū to drink and is in bed, they strangle him and dump his body down a well. To avert any suspicions, Seki pretends her husband has gone off to Tokyo to work. For three years Seki and Toyoji secretly see each other. Their relationship has moments of intense passion, but the young man starts to distance himself from Seki. Finally, suspicions in the village become very strong and people begin to gossip. To make matters worse, her husband's ghost begins to haunt her and the law arrives to investigate her husband's disappearance.
