 
Story Of A Prostitute Gate Of Flesh This month’s Criterion releases include two films about the world’s oldest profession, both directed by Seijun Suzuki, best known for Fighting Elegy, Youth Of The Beast (both reviewed here recently) and a series of Yakuza flicks. Prostitute is the story of Harumi – a Japanese hooker working in the Chinese city of Tianjin, who falls in love with one of her clients. When he marries another girl, she decides to get even by becoming a “comfort woman” to hundreds of troops fighting on the front lines between China and Japan. She quickly becomes the favorite of Lieutenant Narita, the commanding officer who takes pleasure in abusing both her and his troops. Despite her hatred for him, she’s sexually drawn to his violent ways, but after meeting his assistant Private Mikami, she falls in love and vows to destroy the Lieutenant’s power. Mikami is torn by feelings for her and his duty to his superiors (he’s also kind of a wimp) and in the end, this conflict spells doom once he’s captured by the Chinese army. Why anyone would fall in love with Harumi is a mystery. She screams and wails a lot when she doesn’t get what she wants and seemingly has no control over her emotions. While we’re expected to sympathize with her plight, she doesn’t come across as the most loveable character. On the other hand, it’s hard not to root for the ho’s in Gate Of Flesh, who are color-coded in garish hues of pastels that symbolize each of their unique personalities. Set in 1945’s post-war Japan, we’re told that “when the war ended, Tokyo became a city of savages,” and “it was kill or be killed in the battle for survival.” The streets team with hustlers and thieves all trying to make a buck in a city now occupied by American soldiers. After a young girl named Maya is assaulted and raped, she joins a group of prostitutes who are as cunning and deadly as the men they service. Their code dictates that sex is strictly business and anyone caught giving it away for free, will be beaten and killed. Recreating the bombed-out streets of Tokyo on the studio’s back lot, Suzuki and production director Takeo Kimura purposely made the sets appear surreal and more akin to a theater set. The women live in a fantastic underground labyrinth that would make Count Dracula feel right at home. Into their midst comes an ex-soldier named Ibuki (played by Joe Shishido) who is on the lam after knifing an American G.I. Although resistant at first, the women soon accept him and make him the center of their household. Of course some of the women break their code and there are several graphic scenes of bondage, whips and abuse that are more than a little sexual. Suzuki adds a number of surreal moments, such as placing several characters on a rotating platform that spins them around as they converse, a spotlight that follows one of the women around the room as she seduces a client and a scene where Ibuki brings home a stolen cow, then brutally butchers it while the women sing a happy song about apples. There is also an underlying subtext dealing with humiliation of the Japanese population following the end of the war and the occupation, that adds to the desperation permeating the script. Both of these DVDs contain interviews with Suzuki and Kimura discussing how each picture was made and the restraints placed on them by the studio and their limited budget. If you have to pick one, go with Gate Of Flesh, but both are worthy of your attention. - David Bassin
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