Fruits of Passion
1981 film by Shūji Terayama
Fruits of Passion (French: Les fruits de la passion; Japanese: 上海異人娼館／チャイナ・ドール, romanized: Shanhai ijin shōkan - Chaina Dōru, lit. 'Shanghai Foreigner Brothel - China Doll') is a 1981 French-Japanese co-production directed by Shūji Terayama and starring Klaus Kinski. The film is loosely based on the novel Retour à Roissy by Anne Desclos, written as a sequel to the Story of O.
While the film continues the story of O, a subplot depicts an anti-European rebellion in southern China.
Plot
The lead characters of the Story of O and Retour à Roissy novels, Sir Stephen and O, are placed in southern China where Sir Stephen owns a casino. Sir Stephen places O in a Chinese brothel for "training" and O is then subjected to a variety of humiliating experiences to prove her unconditional obedience. A sub-plot concerns a local rebellion due to the resentment towards Europeans by the local population and a young man desperate to afford O's favors at the brothel.
Cast
Isabelle Illiers as O
Klaus Kinski as Sir Stephen
Arielle Dombasle as Nathalie
Peter as Madame
Keiko Niitaka as Aisen
Sayoko Yamaguchi as Sakuya
Hitomi Takahashi as Byakuran
Miyuki Ono as Kasen
Yuka Kamebuchi
Kenichi Nakamura as Le jeune homme, Ogaku
Akiro Suetsugu as Obana
Renji Ishibashi as Kato
Takeshi Wakamatsu as Le gardien de la maison
Georges Wilson as Le narrateur (voice)
Production
In a 2017 interview with the French magazine VSD, Arielle Dombasle looked back on the film with regret: "It's something that hurt me terribly, I was too young to do that, and then Kinski ... he was crazy." She added about Kinski: "He's a guy who crushes the weak, the ugliest thing in the world, someone who loved power, who absolutely wanted to be loved, and who did everything to make sure we did not love him."
In his autobiography, Klaus Kinski claimed the sex scenes in which he participated in this movie were unsimulated.
Release
The film was released in France on 3 June 1981 as Les fruits de la passion and as Shanhai ijin shōkan - Chaina Dōru in Japan with censoring of the pubic areas in November 1981. The USA release as Fruits of Passion with English dubbing occurred in November 1982. A version in Japanese with English subtitles on VHS tape and DVD was published as Fruits of Passion - The Story of "O" Continued on 20 June 2000.
The public source identifies “Fruits of Passion” as 1981 film by Shūji Terayama. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Fruits, Passion and film.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Fruits of Passion”, the useful work is to connect “1981 film by Shūji Terayama” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q528328. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1981, 2017, 1982 and 2000.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fruits of Passion”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fruits of Passion primary sources, Fruits of Passion archive and Fruits research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fruits of Passion”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fruits of Passion” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.