net_orders Review of Street of Shame

Street of Shame (1956)

Very Tame And Often Boring Tale Of Sexploitation.

[4/10 · 29 August 2016]

Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars; subtitles = four (4) stars; score = one (1) star. Director Kenji Mizoguchi's "street" is little more than a small studio alley set. It is emblematic of the disconnect between the sensationalist title (as judged by Japanese standards of the time) and the reality of a dull, repetitive story line spiced up with "sexy" fragments of dialog and flashes of semi-nude female anatomy. "Shame" seems to be operating at three levels in this movie. There is the possible shame (underlined by the film's title) of working as a prostitute in a bordello; the real shame of being exploited by unscrupulous brothel owners who render their employees virtual sex slaves through financial trickery; and the sad shame of making such an insipid movie. The photo play seems to end rather abruptly (as though filming stopped when the money ran out?). Direction/editing is unexceptional. Acting is at or below average. As noted above, studio exterior sets are patently phony. Cinematography (narrow screen, black and white) and lighting are okay. (This film is, for once, in sharply-focused black and white rather than being rendered in fuzzy shades of gray as is typically used in the Director's other films about sex workers.) Subtitles are frequently too long and could benefit from some serious grammatical editing (there are also instances where the subtitle precedes the line delivery!). Audio is fine. "Music" is simply terrible and sounds like it was "composed" for a very, very low-budget horror movie! It serves as an ever present distraction and never fails to negatively impact a scene. (The theremin is employed here as the audio equivalent of cleaning your ears with barbed wire!) Recommended ONLY for the most hard-core Mizoguchi fans. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.