Street of Shame

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

1956 / 85min / DCP

Though best known for his period works, Mizoguchi’s final film was almost brutally contemporary, set in a cathouse in Tokyo’s red light district before the Japanese National Diet outlawed prostitution in Japan. We are privileged to see not only business as usual at the aptly-named Dreamland, but the inner yearnings of the women, who hope against hope for a better tomorrow.