Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda, Aoi Nakajima, Yasuko Matsui, Meika Seri, Kanae Kobayashi, Taiji Tonoyama, Kyôji Kokonoe, Naomi Shiraishi

An extraordinary film not for the faint of heart, Oshima's work tells of a Japanese whore, Sada (Eiko Matsuda), and a pimp, Kichizo (Tatsuya Fuji), who seek refuge in each other during World War II. Living at a small inn, the two try to die in each others' arms, consuming one another with endless lovemaking. The sex scenes (and they are countless) are explicit and exhausting but deep and never crass. So when Sada plays with an egg, swallowing it into her vagina, the image is funny, sad, beautiful, and deeply symbolic, as the acts, organs, and products of birth now become these lovers' route to death.

(by Rebecca L. Epstein)