Product Description

Akasen Chitai [Red Light District, aka Street of Shame] sadly, the very last film by Kenji Mizoguchi (Sansho Dayu, Ugetsu Monogatari) presents a vivid portrait of prostitution in 1950s Japan. In a Tokyo brothel named Dreamland an obvious irony given the faded hopes of those who work there the lives of five prostitutes intersect. Each has a very different story for how they entered the profession, but what they share is the struggle to make sense of the red light district and its cycle of exploitation. Filmed shortly before the Japanese government's introduction of an anti-prostitution bill, Akasen Chitai is a compelling study of women torn between financial necessity and questions of conscience. It was nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and inspired French critic Jean Douchet to proclaim: For me, along with Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux and Renoir's La Règle du Jeu, the greatest film in the history of cinema. Set many centuries earlier, Yokihi [Imperial Concubine Yang, aka Yang Kwei Fei] recounts the Chinese legend referred to in its title. In eighth-century T'ang China, widowed Emperor Hsüan-tsung (Masayuki Mori) reigns alone, devoting his life to the composition of music. When he meets and falls in love with a beautiful young woman (Machiko Kyo), who will become his imperial concubine, a tale of political intrigue and rival dynasties is set in motion, with ultimately tragic consequences. Sumptuously filmed in vibrant colour, Yokihi is the most ancient of Mizoguchi's costume dramas, yet its central themes of passion, sorrow, and the conflict between love and power remain timeless it was also nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice. -------------- SPECIAL FEATURES: 2 x disc special edition containing new transfers of both films. New and improved English subtitles. Full length Akasen Chitai audio commentary and a video discussion about Yokihi by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns. Original theatrical trailers. 64-page booklet featuring writing by Keiko I. McDonald (author of Mizoguchi), Mark Le Fanu (author of Mizoguchi and Japan), Masako Nakagawa (author of The Yang Kuei-fei Legend in Japanese Literature), ninth-century poetry (A Song of Unending Sorrow) by Po Chü-i, and rare production stills.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18576 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-26
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Colour, PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 178 minutes

Synopsis
In AKASEN CHITAI, director Kenji Mizoguchi once again explores the lives of the courtesans of Tokyo's Yoshiwara pleasure district but forgoes his customary lyricism, taking a more harshly realistic view than in earlier films as SISTERS OF THE GION. Set in a brothel ironically dubbed Dreamland, the film allows five of its occupants to unfold their lives. Yumeko (Aiko Mimasu), a middle-aged widow supporting a son, remembers an era when the profession of courtesan was esteemed, requiring skills in music and flower arrangement. The cynical Mickey (Machiko Kyo) has entered the life as a form of rebellion against a wealthy businessman father whose philandering scarred her mother. Yorie (Hiroki Machida) is a simple country girl, working to support aged parents while dreaming of marriage. Yasumi (Ayako Wakao), a victim of her father's embezzlement, moonlights as a moneylender, to achieve respectability with a small business. Hanae (Michiko Kogure), with a baby and an unemployed husband, simply hopes for survival. Against an audio backdrop of news reports of the Diet of Japan voting to outlaw prostitution, the women struggle for a scrap of dignity amid the bleakness of their lives. A veritable dream team of Japanese actresses gives an ensemble performance of memorable virtuosity in the director's last and most lacerating excoriation of his nation's unforgivable treatment of its women.
YOKIHI is a panoramic period romance about the legendarily beautiful and graceful common-born woman loved by the last T'ang Emperor. The pure love shared by the royal couple is offset by the political turmoil and corruption of the 8th century, as a dynasty breathes its last dying gasps.

Customer Reviews

Mizoguchi's last films
This fourth release in Masters of Cinema's brilliant series of late Mizoguchi films follows the same format as its predecessors: a double feature on 2 discs, excellent packaging, a substantial booklet with critical essay, source texts and lots of photographs. Tony Rayns contributes a filmed introduction & commentary (and actually manages to be a bit enthusiastic this time!).
The main feature here is AKASEN CHITAI, which was Mizoguchi's very last film (1956). It's a fairly low-key movie set in a postwar Tokyo brothel & looks at the seedy lives of the prostitutes, pimps & clients - this is the grim downbeat world of prostitution with none of the usual exotic geisha distraction to sweeten the pill. Every character is equally corrupt and degenerate. Perhaps the film is a scathing attack on prostitution, but I think Mizoguchi is not really judging anyone but rather saying that everyone has their own motives and reasons for doing what they do.
Apparently AKASEN was a huge success in Japan which is surprising given its uncompromising style, but it is definitely an exceptional film. It's amazing that that the old and dying Mizoguchi could come up with something so sharp and modern. In the booklet essay Kieko MacDonald criticizes the brief final scene, but I thought it one of the most effective closing images I've ever seen - especially given that it closes Miziguchi's long career.
In complete contrast, the other feature, YOKIHI, is a lavish costume drama - filmed in colour - and based on an old Chinese tale. It concerns love, romance and the fickleness of power in the royal court. It's basically hokum but beautifully stylised - I really enjoyed it!
This release might be thought to lack the appeal of the previous three releases in the series (eg SANSHO and UGETSU), but it can be thoroughly recommended to anyone who loves Mizoguchi and, indeed, to anyone who loves classic Japanese cinema.