Im Reich der Sinne

‘Complex, rigorous and obsessive, the film follows the traces of an all-consuming love that demands fulfilment at all times and in all places, in the bedroom as well as on the street, ignoring the eyes of potential viewers and being increasingly haunted by a premonition of death, the fulfilment of which is also inseparable from love.’ (David Robinson in: kiz info 12/92) The maid Sada is seduced by her master Kichi. While the balance of power in their relationship is initially still traditionally distributed, with female passivity and male activity, Sada's being watched and Kichi's desire complementing each other, the roles change as their entanglement increases. Kichi and Sada's mutual dependence finally culminates in an exclusive preoccupation with each other. They withdraw from the world into the seclusion of the rituals of their sexual obsessions, regardless of the break with tradition. (after: ‘Murderesses in film’)