Street of Shame

Kenji Mizoguchi
1948

The final installment in the "Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women" box is an accessible portrait of a gaggle of prostitutes living under the same brothel roof. This examination of the circumstances that have forced the hapless gals into hooking, and the psychological quirks developed as a result is framed with a political debate as to whether or not to outlaw the oldest profession in Japan. The sob stories on hand are effective but one dimensional - a prostitute works to support her sickly husband and child, another possesses a single minded drive to earn money as her current predicament is the result of family poverty, and the westernized brat refuses an invitation home when she realizes it's based less on familial love than on her father's desire to keep up appearances. The Mom and Pop proprietors of the best little whorehouse in Tokyo are pragmatic businessfolk, interested in the well-being of their charges as long as it contributes to the bottom line. They're an untrustworthy lot with their fuddy-duddie warmth belying a complete disinterest in the emotional life of the girls, and a careful eye on the iron-clad debt that keeps many of the girls in indentured servitude. Mizoguchi capably handles his favorite subject matter in this broad tragedy, but it lacks the righteous rage of the box's other entries.