Akasen chitai (1956)

Director:

Kenji Mizoguchi

Writers:

Masashige Narusawa (writer)
Yoshiko Shibaki (novel)

Release Date:

4 June 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Men were their prey! Beauty was their lure!

Plot:

The personal tales of various whores who occupy a Japanese whorehouse.

Plot Keywords:

Prostitution | Prostitute | Shame | Japan | Tokyo Japan

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Machiko Kyô	...	Mickey
Aiko Mimasu	...	Yumeko
Ayako Wakao	...	Yasumi
Michiyo Kogure	...	Hanae
Kumeko Urabe	...	Otane
Yasuko Kawakami	...	Shizuko
Hiroko Machida	...	Yorie
Eitarô Shindô	...	Kurazô Taya
Sadako Sawamura	...	Tatsuko Taya
Toranosuke Ogawa	...	Mickey's Father
Bontarô Miyake	...	Nightwatch
Daisuke Katô	...	President of Brothel Owners' Association
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenji Sahara

Directed by
Kenji Mizoguchi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Masashige Narusawa		writer
Yoshiko Shibaki		novel "Susaki no Onna"

Produced by
Masaichi Nagata	....	producer

Original Music by
Toshirô Mayuzumi

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Kanji Sugawara

Production Design by
Hiroshi Mizutani

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yasuzo Masumura	....	assistant director

Production Companies

• Daiei Studios

Distributors

• trigon-film (2008) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Eclipse from the Criterion Collection (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Edward Harrison (1959) (USA) (subtitled)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (198?) (USA) (video)
• Eureka Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2008) (Austria) (all media)
• trigon-film (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• trigon-film (2009) (Switzerland) (DVD) (special edition)

Also Known As:

Street of Shame (USA)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 (2008) | UK:X (1958) | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Daiei Studios

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (1975)

Brutal and Riveting

A film centering on a brothel in post war Japan, this is the story of the "girls" and how their job affects the rest of their lives. Of course, you're going to get scenes of utter sadness, death and misery, but this film is also, in a few places, darkly comic. Even the musical score is disconcerting, it is avant garde, actually reminding me of Frank Zappa's more esoteric compositions. The individual actresses are amazing, they truly make you wonder, dislike and, in a few quite brilliant exchanges, feel for them. This last film of the great Mizoguchi is a classic, but its a classic that is not always easy to watch. If you think you could become upset about a gritty film about prostitution and the inherent anger, fears and disappointments surrounding it, I would not recommend it. Otherwise, although probably not meant to be Mizoguchi's last film (he passed away fairly young, leaving a stunning body of work), I think you will find this film brilliant & more than likely authentic. A triumph for a director who, in Kurosawa, Ozu and Naruse's time, deserves the accolades afforded to him.