Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    EmmysSuperheroes GuideSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideBest Of 2025 So FarDisability Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
8 suggestions available
Watchlist
Sign in
Sign in
New customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Eros + Massacre

Original title: Erosu purasu gyakusatsu
  • 1969
  • Not Rated
  • 3h 36m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
Eros + Massacre (1969)
BiographyDrama

Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s students researchi... Read allTwo interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s students researching Osugi's theories.Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s students researching Osugi's theories.

  • Director
    • Yoshishige Yoshida
  • Writers
    • Masahiro Yamada
    • Yoshishige Yoshida
  • Stars
    • Mariko Okada
    • Toshiyuki Hosokawa
    • Yûko Kusunoki
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    2.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Yoshishige Yoshida
    • Writers
      • Masahiro Yamada
      • Yoshishige Yoshida
    • Stars
      • Mariko Okada
      • Toshiyuki Hosokawa
      • Yûko Kusunoki
    • 14User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos16

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 10
    View Poster

    Top cast22

    Edit
    Mariko Okada
    Mariko Okada
    • Noe Ito…
    Toshiyuki Hosokawa
    Toshiyuki Hosokawa
    • Sakae Osugi
    Yûko Kusunoki
    Yûko Kusunoki
    • Itsuko Masaoka
    Etsushi Takahashi
    Etsushi Takahashi
    • Jun Tsuji
    Masako Yagi
    • Yasuko Hori
    Taiko Shinbashi
    • Chiyoko
    Kazuko Inano
    • Aicho Hiraga
    Kinji Matsueda
    • Toshihiko Sakai
    Kazunori Miyazaki
    • Rickshaw Man
    Takehiko Takagi
    • Hiroshi Okumura
    Yoshisada Sakaguchi
    Yoshisada Sakaguchi
    • Araya Kimura
    Toshiko Ii
    • Eiko Sokutai
    Midori Tamai
    • Megumi Taroi
    Daijirô Harada
    • Kenji Wada
    Kyûzô Kawabe
    • Mitsuru Unema
    Kikuo Kaneuchi
    • Masaji Tashiro
    Katsuya Kobayashi
    Kei Yoshimizu
    • Director
      • Yoshishige Yoshida
    • Writers
      • Masahiro Yamada
      • Yoshishige Yoshida
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews14

    7.42.3K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    6gavin6942

    Japanese Radicalism, Part One

    Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi (1885-1923) which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s' students researching Osugi's theories.

    This film is epic, even in its cut form. Yoshishige Yoshida uses a variety of clever, yet subtle, techniques including the idea of reflection to show the split time frames. Unfortunately, the film's shades of gray are not as stark as they could be.

    The film is generally considered to be one of the finest film to come out of the Japanese New Wave movement, and sometimes one of the best Japanese films in general. Although relatively unknown in the West, it has gained a small cult following. Thanks to Arrow Video, it can now be seen uncut on Blu-ray. Personally, it is not my cup of tea, but not everything can be.
    10mingus_x

    still fresh after 33 years

    The opening sequence is framed an cut in such a modern way that you would think that you are in a movie of the present. It totally graps your attention and doesn't let go till the end.

    If you have any chance to see this movie in the original 202min. cut - use it !!
    8XxEthanHuntxX

    Suggestiv - a low 8

    Baffling and skillfully shot Eros + Massacre is far from easy to digest. A complex story with ton to explore and interpret. I feel frustrated that I have to see this film ones more to give it a faire rating, my concern though, is that it displays' more intelligent that it really is.
    7Jeremy_Urquhart

    Difficult and intriguing

    Just about any film that exceeds 3.5 hours in length is going to be a challenging watch, but this one even more so. Eros + Massacre loosely follows a real-life free-thinking radical (who talks big but doesn't actually do much, at least in the movie) whose life is complicated by the fact that he's in a relationship with three different women. Other scenes follow two young people in the 1960s, who talk about this historical figure, have an obsession with fire, and similarly have lofty ideas but lack the know-how or resources to rebel their way they want to. The characters from the past and (then) present also collide at points, in strange and surreal ways.

    It's hard to read into exactly what the movie's going for. I'd want to assume it's being critical of its characters for the most part, or maybe satirical about revolutionaries/radicals who say they want change but stay stuck in their ways? Honestly, this film's so overwhelming I could be way off.

    It makes for an interesting watch, though. I've never seen anything else quite like it. Without a doubt, it's also beautiful to look at. There's very little going on visually that looks ordinary or traditional, and some very ambitious camerawork and bizarre yet compellingly framed shots throughout.

    As sacrilegious as it sounds, if I revisit this one day, I might watch the 160-minute version, even if the 3.5-hour one is the director's cut. At about the 165-minute mark was where I felt my attention start to wane a little bit, in all honesty.

    (Also RIP to the film's director, Yoshishige Yoshida. Just so happened to watch this the day it was announced he passed away, at age 89).
    6zetes

    Pretty, but dull

    The Japanese New Wave is one of my favorite cinematic movements, and this film comes recommended as one of the best of its era. Very unfortunately, it didn't do much for me at all. The one thing about it that I'll say right off the bat really impressed me was the cinematography. No time and place ever produced such gorgeous black and white movies, and this is up there with the best.

    The film itself, though, is very slow-moving, kind of pretentious, and uninvolving. The story involves two timelines, one set in the Taisho period (starting in 1916) and the other in the present. It's about free love and the sexual revolution. In 1916, the philosopher Sakae Osugi practices and writes about free love. I'm pretty sure the Japanese word for philosopher translates literally in English to "aloof jerk," because this guy's version of free love is to screw around with different women and then say "Why can't you be chill about this?" when they confront him. In particular, Itsuko Masaoka becomes wildly jealous when he starts seeing Noe Ito on the side. She begins brandishing a knife, always threatening to get stabby with it. Late in the movie, there are like three consecutive sequences that take up a good quarter of the movie where she fulfills her promise.

    The 1960s stuff involves two students who are studying Osugi. They have their own problems, but want to subscribe to the free love idea, which seems to be expanding around the world. At least in the director's cut, these segments take up only about a quarter of the film.

    Look, I don't generally do well with long films, and perhaps this one's 3 hours and 36 minutes were just too daunting for me. The fact is, though, from the very beginning I was pretty bored with this one. 90% of the scenes just involve two or three people sitting around in a room bickering. I give Yoshida much credit for keeping it visually interesting throughout. The guy definitely has talent, but I wonder if this independently produced art film gave him too much freedom. Maybe he'd be better reigned in.

    Whatever the case, I'm still perfectly happy to have this new Arrow Academy box set. Outside of Criterion, they're the best home video production company today. I hope I like the other two films better, and I hope one day I get to take a look at Yoshida's earlier, studio-produced films.

    More like this

    Heroic Purgatory
    7.1
    Heroic Purgatory
    Coup d'Etat
    6.8
    Coup d'Etat
    This Transient Life
    7.6
    This Transient Life
    Crazed Fruit
    7.2
    Crazed Fruit
    A Story Written with Water
    7.3
    A Story Written with Water
    Go, Go Second Time Virgin
    7.1
    Go, Go Second Time Virgin
    Intentions of Murder
    7.6
    Intentions of Murder
    Gate of Flesh
    7.2
    Gate of Flesh
    Allonsanfan
    7.0
    Allonsanfan
    Profound Desires of the Gods
    7.5
    Profound Desires of the Gods
    The Man Who Left His Will on Film
    6.9
    The Man Who Left His Will on Film
    Double Suicide
    7.6
    Double Suicide

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ichiko Kamichika, one of the characters from the film, was an active politician in the '60s who threatened to sue director 'Yoshishige Yoshida' for violation of privacy should this film be released uncut (to avoid legal issues in the first place, her name in the film was changed to Itsuko Masaoka). Thus, Yoshida was forced to cut a number of scenes centered around her. For a long time, the shorter cut of the film was the only one available.
    • Quotes

      Opening Text: Drunk upon the happiness of decadence, this film is a dialogue with you and I, the ambiguous participants in the erotica and revolutions of Sakae Osugi and Noe Ito, whose lives were dedicated to the beauty of chaos.

    • Connections
      Featured in Yoshida... or: The Explosion of the Story (2008)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ14

    • How long is Eros + Massacre?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 14, 1970 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Eros Plus Massacre
    • Production companies
      • Gendai Eigasha
      • Bungakuza
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $8,017
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      3 hours 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Eros + Massacre (1969)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Eros + Massacre (1969) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Production art
    Photos
    Hollywood Power Couples
    See the gallery
    Production art
    List
    July 2025 TV and Streaming Premiere Dates
    See the list
    Poster
    List
    Most Anticipated Indian Movies: July-December 2025
    See the list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.