Review of Street of Shame (1956) by Adam S — 13 May 2010
Kenji Mizoguchi was already sick when he made this studio assignment about five prostitutes in the declining era of the brothel, textbook Mizoguchi territory, and it would be his last film, but there's nothing to suggest a man creating for the last time, it's as vibrant, emotional, and hard hitting as his masterworks twenty and thirty years earlier.
Mizoguchi doesn't seem to be as angry as he was in his "Sisters of Gion" days, but the film does tackle issues directly related to the politics of the day, mainly, what are these women to do if prostitution is outlawed, where will they live, work, how will they pay off their mounting debts, and wasn't it men who drove them to this lifestyle in the first place? Criterion shuffled this off to it's Eclipse series, with no extras, but it deserves a more studied look, and if you can watch it, the Masters of Cinema version has a commentary by Tony Rayns, who really knows his Mizoguchi.
This review of Street of Shame (1956) was written by Adam S on 13 May 2010.
Street of Shame has generally received very positive reviews.
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