Street of Shame

Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi's favorite subject was always prostitutes, and for his last film, that's what he burrowed into. STREET OF SHAME tells of a whorehouse and an ensemble of prostitutes working the street surrounding it. Each one of them has a specific and desperate necessity to be a hooker, but the Japanese government is considering banning the practice. The head of the whorehouse tells the girls that he and the 'missus' are the ones that really care about them, and that the government considers them less than people, even though they provide a social service. One of the women works to send money to her son, who is ashamed of her. Another seems to do it for fun, but later this develops into a dark greed. Another is raising money for sick husband, and her starving son. And yet another flees the whorehouse to look for a better life, but is told at the employment office that she might as well just become a whore. The necessity that Mizoguchi implants into his characters is essential, and he shows scenes broken up from each other so that the head of the whorehouse can applaud his workers in one scene, and cheat them while calling them merchandise in another. Mizoguchi's masterful use of mis-en-scene is at play here as well, fathers of whores enter and speak to their clothed daughters about the elephant in the room while pictures of naked women adorn the walls. Mizoguchi's composition is naturalistic, and yet evocative of the shame that the women face, and what they are forced to do. STREET OF SHAME is a fine film, although perhaps a little long or under-plotted.
Street of Shame: ★★★