is a 1956 black-and-white

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

directed by

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...

. It is the personal tales of several Japanese women of different backgrounds who work together in a brothel. It was Mizoguchi's last film. The film is based on the novel '' Susaki no Onna'' by

Yoshiko Shibaki was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels. She was awarded numerous prizes for her work, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Women's Literature Prize. Biography Early life Shibaki was born in Tokyo on 7 May 1914 into a merchant family. ...

. In July 2018, it was selected to be screened in the Venice Classics section at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

Plot

Street of Shame revolves around the lives of 5 female prostitutes working at Dreamland, a licensed brothel owned by the Tayas in a

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

near the Sensōji Temple in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Yoshiwara was a famous (red-light district) in Edo, present-day Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1617, Yoshiwara was one of three licensed and well-known red-light districts created during the early 17th century by the Tokugawa shogunate, alongside Shimab ...

district, while the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

reconsiders a ban on prostitution. 1) Yasumi is a young woman trying to bail her father out of jail for corruption and Dreamland's top owner. 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. 2) Mickey is a vivacious young woman with Western tendencies who spends money without care. When her father arrives from

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

with news of her mother's death and attempts to persuade her to quit her job for the sake of the entire family, she castigates him for his hedonism when her mother was alive and throws him out. 3) Hanae is a woman struggling to provide for her husband (who has suicidal tendencies) and infant. Ultimately, they are evicted by their landlord. 4) 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. 5) 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 as a "dirty whore" and disowns her. On the same night that Yasumi is attacked, Yumeko goes insane and is taken away. Yasumi recovers and buys the fabric and futon business next door to the brothel, which becomes her first customer. Ultimately, the anti-prostitution bill fails to pass. Some time later, the brothel's young maid, Shizuko, debuts. The film ends with Shizuko timidly beckoning men to enter the brothel as she faces a life of prostitution.

Cast

The production designer was

Hiroshi Mizutani is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Possible writings Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *浩, "meaning" *汎 *弘, *宏, *寛, *洋, *博, *博一, *博司, ...

Legacy

'' Red Light District: Gonna Get Out'' (1974) directed by

Tatsumi Kumashiro was a Japanese film director known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning '' Roman Porno'' films, such as ''Ichijo's Wet Lust'' (1972) and '' The Woman with Red Hair'' (1979). He was the most highly acclaimed director of the early Nikkatsu ...

is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of this film.

References

External links

* *
The Criterion Collection: ''Street of Shame''
1956 films 1956 drama films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films 1950s Japanese-language films Films about prostitution in Japan Films set in Tokyo Films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi Films produced by Masaichi Nagata Daiei Film films 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub