Review of Street of Shame (1956) by Brent G — 09 Oct 2009

I probably should have watched Ugetsu to introduce myself to Mizoguchi, but I won't fuss over seeing this first. Anyway, Street of Shame was Mizoguchi's last film and I remember reading that it was filmed in an actual Japanese whorehouse to get an authentic feel.

It certainly succeeds in this. We follow the everyday happenings in a whorehouse in Japan while the government is issuing a ban on prostitution. We see the four main women who work, and each has her own story and reason as to why she does what she does.

As mentioned, the film really seems authentic, and Mizoguchi has a lot of depth to his shots when we're looking at the city and the house; a sidenote to mention is to watch for his use of cross-hatching, whether on the walls or on a crate that's facilitating somebody's suicide.

This turned out to be a nice little commentary on the pros and cons (mainly pros) of prostitution ("why can't we sell what we own?") and on female hardships in general. Each of the four girls has an interesting background, and their relationship with one another feel realistic, as they all seem to support each other in comaraderie, but not so much where they may lose a paying customer to the other.

I really liked this. The story and the setting are both very realized. The most notable flaw for me was the music; at times it presented the film as a sort of cartoonish unknown to the general public, which I can appreciate, but I thought it would be more appropriate to heighten the drama at points with something more somber.