Street of Shame

Of all the films about prostitution, Kenji Mizoguchi's Street of Shame, made in 1956 at the end of his career, is perhaps the greatest.

The settings are a far removed from the medieval landscapes of Ugetsu or The Life of Oharu, but Mizoguchi's focus on the plight of his women characters is as intent and heart-rending as ever.

The late Kenji Mizoguchi, who directed Ugetsu, failed to show as much imagination in this one as in that one.

Renowned for his masterful tales of women oppressed, Mizoguchi offers stinging condemnation of a Japanese tradition stretching back hundreds of years.