Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi • 1956 • Japan
For his final film, Mizoguchi brought a lifetime of experience to bear on the heartbreaking tale of a brothel full of women whose dreams are constantly being shattered by the socioeconomic realities surrounding them. Set in Tokyo's Red Light District (the literal translation of the Japanese title), Street of Shame was so cutting, and its popularity so great, that when an antiprostitution law was passed in Japan just a few months after the film's release, some said it was a catalyst.
Up Next in Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa
-
Conflagration
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1958 • Japan
Starring Raizo Ichikawa, Tatsuya NakadaiAdapted from a novel by Yukio Mishima and told in an intricate flashback structure, CONFLAGRATION dramatizes the psychological collapse of Goichi (Raizo Ichikawa), a young Buddhist acolyte from a dysfunctional f...
-
Floating Weeds
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1959 • Japan
Starring Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko Kyo, Ayako WakaoIn 1959, Yasujiro Ozu remade his 1934 silent classic A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS in color with the celebrated cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa (RASHOMON, UGETSU). Setting his later version in a seaside locati...
-
Odd Obsession
Directed by Kon Ichikawa • 1959 • Japan
Starring Ganjiro Nakamura, Machiko KyoKon Ichikawa’s ODD OBSESSION is a strange dark comedy on a then-forbidden subject—impotence, and jealousy as a cure for it. The movie explores the links between love, jealousy, and rage, all from the standpoint of...