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Gate of Flesh

Gate of Flesh
Gate of Flesh poster.jpg
Directed by Seijun Suzuki
Produced by Kaneo Iwai
Written by Taijiro Tamura
Goro Tanada
Starring Joe Shishido
Satoko Kasai
Yumiko Nogawa
Music by Naozumi Yamamoto
Cinematography Shigeyoshi Mine
Distributed by Nikkatsu
Release date
May 31, 1964 (Japan)
December 11, 1964 (U.S.)
Running time
90 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Gate of Flesh (肉体の門 Nikutai no mon?) is a 1964 Japanese film based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura and directed by Seijun Suzuki.

In an impoverished and burnt out Tokyo ghetto of post-World War II Japan, a band of prostitutes defend their territory, squatting in a bombed-out building. Somehow they eke out a living together. Forming a sort of family in an environment where everyone (American soldiers and Japanese yakuza) is a potential antagonist, the girls cajole each other, and ruthlessly punish any of their group who violate the cardinal rule—no having sex for free. A new girl, Maya (Yumiko Nogawa), joins their group and learns the trade. An ex-soldier, Shintaro Ibuki (Joe Shishido), is shot nearby and holes up with the girls. Each of them starts to crave Ibuki, placing strains on the group. Maya feels it worse, seeing him as replacement for her brother (who died in Borneo). She takes him after a night of drunken revelry, and both are ostracized. Agreeing to run away together, he is shot in a double-cross, and she is left as she was at the beginning of the film—alone and hopeless.

Planned as an "adult release" (Japanese films were classified by the country's film board as "general release" or "adult"), the usual pace of production at Nikkatsu (10 days pre-production, 25 days shooting, three days post-production) allowed Suzuki and his innovative production designer Takeo Kimura precious little time to construct sets to recreate post-war firebombed Tokyo. Sets were slapped together on the backlot using materials purloined from studio warehouses, and theatrical set design techniques which could compromise the film's "realism." The resulting production has been lauded for its resulting visual flair.


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