GRADE: 9
The personal tales of various prostitutes who occupy a brothel.
Original Title: Akasen chitai
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Country of Origin: Japan
Thoughts:
Turns out I love post-war Japanese movies! As with Floating Clouds, I love the combination of Hollywood-influence and eastern sensibilities.
Superb cast. The film offers so many characters with different motivations and backstories, all of whom seem totally trapped in their circumstances. Even the one who escapes prostitution only does so by ruining the lives of her Johns.
Mickey comes across as an American teenager of the 50s, like a Japanese version of Rizzo from Grease! An utterly fascinating character.
The last scene was devastating and really helped make the film more than the sum of its parts.