OF ALL THE directors in the world, Ang Lee is probably the last you would expect to launch into the ouevre of freaky, questionably real sex films. Usually adept at walking the tightrope between art and commerce, it would appear that Mr. Lee has abandoned the presumably strict Confucian upbringing of his youth and embraced certain visceral desires, previously the domain of avant-garde French directors like Catherine Breillat. Oscar be damned! Well, at least he is in good company. Here are seven Asian films that range from raunchy to arty to downright bizarre. Who’s the lustiest? You decide:

1. Tokyo Decadence: Written and directed by popular Japanese novelist Ryu Murakami, this 1992 film follows a Tokyo call girl, Ai, as she makes rounds from a drug dealer to a Japanese business man who barks at her: “Bend down, your face means nothing to me.” While the Japanese S&M theme borders on cliche nowadays, like the “rip my stocking” moment in “Lost in Translation,” this film captures Ai’s loneliness and isolation through a cold lens and graphic sex scenes involving dildos, asphyxiation and some disturbing yet funny hentai characters.

2. Color Blossoms: A 2004 Hong Kong film starring perennial tabloid queen Teresa Chiang, Korean transsexual hottie Harisu, and ’80s Japanese icon Matsuzaka Keiko. Don’t let the non-existent plot about a realtor, a madam, and two guys traveling between past and present deter you, this film is worth watching for the over-the-top performances and laugh-out-loud sex scenes (picture Matsuzaka Keiko leading Teresa Chiang by a collar.)

3. The Isle: This 2005 Korean film, directed by Kim Ki-duk, both repelled critics and won accolades for its haunting depiction of a woman who makes her living servicing men at a fishing resort and her relationship with a suicidal man. With an abundance of violence and sex, this one is not for the faint-hearted, especially if the combination of fishhook and sex makes you queasy.

4. The Wayward Cloud: A film by Taiwanese director and art house favorite Tsai Ming-Liang, “The Wayward Cloud” tells the story of a young man, Hsiao Kang, who works as a porn actor in Taipei. He enters into a tenuous relationship with Shiang Chyi, who remains unaware of his profession—until she discovers an unconscious porn actress in her elevator, and Hsiao Kang engaged in what may or may not be necrophilia. Interspersed with campy ’60s-style musical numbers, a running watermelon-juice theme, and very little dialogue, this is like entering an alternate universe.

5. Ai No Rukeichi: This 2007 film caused a stir in Osaka recently—the sex scenes were so frequent and graphic that theaters designated separate “women only” viewings so the lady folk could savor the story—of an intense sexual tryst between a married writer and a lonely housewife—in peace.

6. The Erotic Ghost Story series: It would be difficult to single out one from this classic Hong Kong series, as all three of them are rife with unfathomable sex acts and story lines. The first, made in 1987, launched the career of Amy Yip, and is the most truthful to the novel the series is based on. This was following by “Sex and Zen,” in which a scholar with a 20-inch horse penis transplant sneaks into married women’s bedrooms for sex. The third installment is more of the same. While none are related plot-wise, they are all excellent send-ups of the Wu Xia film genre and among the best of the category III films.

7. In the Realm of the Senses: The film that started it all. This classic psychodrama, directed by Nagisa Oshima in 1976, is based on the true story of Sada Abe, an ex-prostitute who falls into an obsessive sexual affair with married hotel owner Ishida. As their relationship and kinky practices intensify (the sex is real), so does Abe’s possessiveness, which leads to the ultimate act of sexual violence. Still shocking some 30 years later—Ang Lee’s got nothin’ on this!

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