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Gate of Flesh - Criterion Collection Director: Seijun Suzuki Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2005-07-26 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com Gate of Flesh (Nikutai no mon) is another wonderful example of why Seijun Suzuki will go down in history as one of Japan's craftiest and most ingenious B-movie directors. As exhibited in Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter Suzuki has the uncanny ability to take shoestring budgets, predictable boilerplate scripts, tight schedules, and studio-contracted actors and spin these elements to create extremely deep and layered films. Gate of Flesh is no exception. In post-World War II Japan, life on the Tokyo streets has become desperate. Amidst the ruins, a tough, well-worn group of prostitutes bands together for survival and companionship. When an ex-soldier enters into the circle, flames of jealousy, anger, and lust are fueled, ending with disastrous results. On the surface, the story is a simple pulp tale of decadence thrown together by Nikkatsu Studios to make a quick buck. But, in the hands of Suzuki-san, Gate of Fleshturns into a hallucinatory, surreal, critical post-modern essay on the decline of loyalty and morality in modern society. --Rob Bracco From Description In the shady black markets and bombed-out hovels of post–World War II Tokyo, a tough band of prostitutes eke out a dog-eat-dog existence, maintaining tenuous friendships and a semblance of order in a world of chaos. But when a renegade ex-soldier stumbles into their midst, lusts and loyalties clash, with tragic results. With Gate of Flesh, visionary director Seijun Suzuki delivers a whirlwind of social critique and pulp drama shot through with brilliant colors and raw emotions. |
 "Pleasures of the flesh"This 1964 film reminds me of the great work that the American movie industry turned out (sometimes in spite of itself) during the 1930's and 40's. Like many films under the "Hollywood System", Gate of Flesh is a product of artists under contract, who were simply given a project, a small budget, and a brief shooting schedule. All the studio that released Gate of Flesh really wanted was a quickie - a soft-porn moneymaker. What they got from director, Seijun Suzuki, was a masterpiece. Briefly told, the film tells the story of a group of prostitutes making their Darwinian way in the charred rubble of postwar Japan. The girls have one, simple code: If you make love, you make money. To make love without charging is a disgrace, resulting in a naked beating and banishment from the group's mutual protection. The women strut the streets in a crowded, nightmare world of thugs and thieves, where love is rejected for the more primal needs of survival. A "returnee" from the war enters the prostitute's strangely insulated world and things become - unbalanced. Seijun Suzuki's direction is astounding in this film. Working with the brilliant set designs of Takeo Kimura, Suzuki creates a world that is surreal yet somehow satisfies the eye's need for reality all at once - a kind of "symbolization" of reality. As with a lot of Suzuki's work, he displays a painter's sense of color, and the film is beautiful to look at. Despite the fact that the film was shot entirely on the back lot of Nikkatsu Studios, Suzuki is able to portray the feel of a large burned out city through pure, brilliant shot choice and placement of action. It was impossible, of course, for Suzuki to simply deliver the skin flick the studio expected. Instead, he created a brilliant film in which women are hung naked and whipped for daring to make love for free -- a complex film that is a study of the effects that defeat, humiliation and ruin visit on the soul, and the soul's indestructible quest for safety and love. There are many strong performances here. Joe Shishido is superb as Ibuki, the swaggering, nihilistic ex-soldier, slowly but painfully submitting to his intrinsic sense of honor. Also great was Satoko Kasai as Sen, the leader of the whores. Dressed in red, she is a tall flame always at the center of the group, laying down the law and administering the beatings. Actress Kasai, who grins throughout only to display sharp teeth, offers one genuine smile in the film, and it is a moment of transcendent hope and heartbreak. The Criterion Collection edition of this film is a nice package. I owned the film in VHS, and it is simply a different experience watching this digitally re-mastered edition. It is truly stunning. The special features are a bit slim, but they do offer one whopper: an interview with both Seijun Suzuki and Takeo Kimura, who was the production designer. Listening to these men speak was certainly fascinating from a "film-school" kind of perspective, but they also offered a different cultural perspective as well. Hearing Takeo Kimua say simply and calmly, "My own house was burned down because of the bombing, so having such memories probably helped me creating the sets," really slams that home in spades. -Mykal Banta ""Dead man coming through!""GATE OF FLESH is simply one of Suzuki's greatest films. He shot it for the Japanese film studios at the time as a roman (soft porn) movie but in usual Suzuki style, the director makes it much more than just your standard roman porn movie. Like many filmmakers and actors in Japan from the same era, Suzuki had fought in WW2 and seen the devastation that the war had brought to Japan. The director brilliantly uses his own anti-American sentiments at the time as well as his obvious resentment against his own country in GATE OF FLESH to tell a a haunting story about damaged people and missed opportunities. Besides being a wonderful social commentary about WW2, GATE OF FLESH is also filled with amazing imagery and stunning set designs. Jo Shishido gives one of his best performances as a broken Japanese solider running from the law and longing for the past. He soon meets his match in a band of prostitutes who all vie for his attention in the hopes that he'll somehow redeem their shattered lives. All the actresses in the movie are marvelous in their roles, but Satoko Kasai really stands out as the sensitive & smart tough prostitute Sen and Yumiko Nogawa does a great job of transforming from good girl to wicked woman in her role as Maya. The wonderful soundtrack by Naozumi Yamamoto is full of authentic Japanese music, which really helps evoke a mood of doom throughout the entire movie. GATE OF FLESH is easily one of Criterions most interesting releases. The quality of the DVD is amazing and the print transfer looks and sounds terrific. The extra interview with director Seijun Suzuki & art director/production designer Takeo Kimura is really interesting and sheds a lot of light on this fascinating 1964 production. The DVD also contains a beautiful still gallery and the extras, combined with the great DVD quality, make this DVD well worth owning if you're a Suzuki fan. I really can't recommend it enough! "40 yen for beef or a woman?"After World War II came to an end, a great number of Japan's major cities were left in shambles. However, the Japanese began to rebuild almost immediately after the war came to the end. The earliest post-war settlements were shantytowns and the remains of scorched buildings. Because of the chronic lack of food, most individuals were forced to purchase food at the black market. Although illegal, the black market was the only source of essential foodstuffs. Also, during this time period, a number of women, whose fathers, brothers, and sons were killed during the war, were forced into prostitution to support themselves. With tens of thousands former Japanese soldiers and American soldiers swarming into the country, there were definitely enough men to garner money from. Seijun Suzuki's 1964 film takes place in one of these shantytowns and it follows the lives of five such prostitutes: The refined Machiko; the tattooed Sen; the chubby Roku; the boisterous Mino; and the youngest of the group Maya. The film begins with Maya fleeing from a man who had tried to pimp her to an American soldier, however, luckily for her Sen intervenes. Struggling to survive, Maya follows Sen back to the latter's home and soon joins Sen and her fellow prostitutes in peddling flesh. However, unlike other prostitutes, the women are able to keep their money because they do not work for a pimp. Although they seem to be close, the women can be quite vicious. Their sole rule is that no member may sleep with a man without receiving payment. If one breaks the rule, one is stripped naked, tied up, and beaten. Although far from ideal, the women seem to get along decently well until a man Ibuki Shintaro, Shishido Joe, comes into their ranks. Heavily muscled and of a demanding nature, each one of the prostitutes fall for the ex-soldier and this of course endangers this little circle of "friends." Like many of his other films, Suzuki's Gate of Flesh is quite violent. While not nearly as vicious as Miike films, Gate of Flesh caused quite a stir when it was released in 1964. While the beating scenes are moderately tame, there is a graphic scene in which a cow is slaughtered. In my opinion, the most striking aspect of this film is the use of color. Each prostitute wears a specific color and this makes for some quite striking scenes. Sen, Kasai Satoko, is quite striking in red. This is an interesting film that might interest those who would like to see a cinematic version of Japan's early postwar years.  "Suzuki's low point"I really like good Japanese movies--but this isn't one of them. Somehow-criterion decided to put this disaster out--a movie that ranks as bad as "In the Realm of the Senses" or "Visitor Q"--a trilogy of bad Japanese movies that make Godzilla seem like classics. Quite a bit of s&m--if one likes fantasizing about beating women or being beaten--certainly not arousing for most people I would hope. A young girl is raped and left in a field by American GI's--she then turns to protitution and moves into a bombed out wreck of a building with several other working girls--to be joined later by a petty thief-hiding out after stabbing an American soldier-who somehow enamors all the women. The rule at the "house"-is no free sex--and the punishment is severe--a cow is butchered later for some odd reason--fairly graphic and totally unnecessary--and a Priest commits suicide. There is no real plot--the movie just rambles along--pretty incoherently for the most part. Hard to believe only one year later Suzuki would direct "Story of a Prostitute"--a movie which is actually pretty good The nudity in this movie is fairly mild by todays standards--though the abuse the women give and receive is pretty degrading. I personally can't recommend this movie for anyone of any age. If criterion thinks this is a great movie--maybe it's time for them to put out "Plan 9 From Outer Space"-it's more interesting than this lame exercise in misogyny! |
