Street of Shame

Street of Shame
Street of Shame
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kenji Mizoguchi
Written by	Masashige Narusawa (writer); Yoshiko Shibaki (novel);
Produced by	Masaichi Nagata
Starring	Machiko Kyō; Ayako Wakao; Aiko Mimasu; Michiyo Kogure; Hiroko Machida;
Cinematography	Kazuo Miyagawa
Edited by	Kanji Sugawara
Music by	Toshiro Mayuzumi
Production; company	Daiei Film
Distributed by	Daiei Film
Release date	18 March 1956 (Japan);
Running time	86 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Street of Shame (赤線地帯, Akasen chitai, lit. "Red-light district") is a 1956 Japanese drama film and the last film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.^[1]^[2] The story, which revolves around a group of women of different backgrounds who work together in a brothel in Tokyo, is based on the novel Susaki no onna by Yoshiko Shibaki.^[1]

Plot

Street of Shame revolves around the lives of five female prostitutes working at Dreamland, a licensed brothel owned by the Tayas in a red-light district in Tokyo's Yoshiwara district, while the Diet reconsiders a ban on prostitution.

Yasumi is a young woman trying to bail her father out of jail for corruption. Her long-term client, Mr. Aoki, a married man and a modest businessman, agrees to pay off all of her debts in the belief that she will elope with him, going so far as to embezzle money. When Aoki confronts Yasumi and discovers that she had deceived him into thinking she would marry him, his disillusionment leads to a tussle where he nearly kills her.

Mickey is a vivacious young woman with Western tendencies who spends money without care. When her father arrives from Kobe with news of her mother's death and attempts to persuade her to quit her job for the sake of the family, she castigates him for his hedonism when her mother was alive and throws him out.

Hanae is a woman struggling to provide for her husband (who has suicidal tendencies) and infant. Ultimately, they are evicted by their landlord.

Yorie is an elderly woman with a man she wants to marry but cannot because she owes the Tayas a significant amount of money. When the courts decide that the debts Yorie owes to the Tayas are null and void, she leaves Dreamland to marry the man, but soon returns after being deceived because the man only wanted to exploit her for cheap labor.

Yumeko is an elderly widow trying to raise her son, who is currently working in Tokyo, but avoids meeting him out of embarrassment. When they meet, her son decries her for her profession and disowns her. Yumeko goes insane and is taken away.

Ultimately, the anti-prostitution bill fails to pass. Yasumi recovers and buys the fabric and futon business next door to the brothel, which becomes her first customer. The film ends with the brothel's young maid Shizuko debuting as a prostitute, beckoning men to enter the brothel.

Cast

Machiko Kyō as Mickey
Ayako Wakao as Yasumi
Aiko Mimasu as Yumeko
Michiyo Kogure as Hanae
Kumeko Urabe as Otane
Yasuko Kawakami as Shizuko
Hiroko Machida as Yorie
Eitarō Shindō as Kurazō Taya
Sadako Sawamura as Tatsuko Taya
Toranosuke Ogawa as Mickey's father
Bontarō Miyake as nightwatch
Daisuke Katō as president of Brothel Owners' Association
Kenji Sahara

Production

The production designer on the film was Hiroshi Mizutani [ja].^[1]^[2]

Legacy

In July 2018, Street of Shame was selected to be screened in the Venice Classics section at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "赤線地帯". Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "赤線地帯". Kinenote. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
^ "The restored films of Venezia Classici". La Biennale di Venezia. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.

External links

This article related to a Japanese film of the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[jmdb-1] "赤線地帯". Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 29 August 2023.

[Kinenote-2] "赤線地帯". Kinenote. Retrieved 29 August 2023.

[3] "The restored films of Venezia Classici". La Biennale di Venezia. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.

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