Gate of Flesh

After WW II, a gang of prostitutes has their home base in the slums of Tokyo. They live in a world where the old generation of 'big shots still talk big.' For them, 'democracy means (having sexual intercourse with) foreigners.' These foreigners are GIs, members of the occupying forces in Japan. The main principle of the gang is 'no sex for free'. If a member of the gang transgresses this rule, she will be harshly punished. The movie contains some very sadistic lashing scenes.

Vision on mankind Seijun Suzuki unveils in an interview published on this DVD his view on mankind: 'physiology is the strongest force and only acts through human will. We can depend on nothing but the physicality of the flesh.' The gate to the world is the gate of flesh, where you have to 'rely on your own instincts'. Morality and religion, here represented by a black catholic priest, are hopeless pipe dreams.

Highly recommended, like other films by Seijun Suzuki's: his 'manga' movie 'Pistol Opera', his 'ghost' movie 'Princess Raccoon' (with Ziyi Zhang) and his gangster movie 'Underworld Beauty'.

The story revolves around a female prostitution clan (Komasa of Kanto) and their newest arrivals, Maya and Shintaro (Jo "Cheek Implants" Shishido). It takes places in a shantytown located outside of a US military base, immediately after the end of WW2. They survive by selling their bodies and protecting each other, in other words : pimp-less. This is based on a novel by Taijiro Tamura.

We see the story from mostly Maya's perspective. When the story starts out she is a street urchin stealing food to survive. When she is caught by a local pimp and almost peddled to a couple of US servicemen, she inadvertently falls into the hands of the leader of the Komasa (the tattooed, Sen). From there the story revolves about the daily occurrences of street walking, finding food, laying about, singing and various methods of getting money, food and "johns" (lots of petty pickpocketing mostly).

The Komasa of Kanto are identified mostly by the color of their dresses than their names. It is funny to know that the color of the dresses in correspondence with the characters did not have any significant meaning (according to Seijun). The dressed adopted those colors because initially all the dresses and styles looked nearly identical. The colors were used (in typical anime fashion) to differentiate the characters. Mino - purple ; Roku - yellow ; Sen - red ; Maya - green ; Ofuku - white and Machiko - traditional kimono. The group have a few rules, but the most important is not to give up sex for free. We are subjected to the first incident of this with Ofuku. She is tied up, her hair is cut off and she is tied naked to a row boat and left in the harbor for all to see.

After Maya's arrival and adaptation, in comes Jo Shishido. He plays and ex Japanese soldier who goes around committing petty crimes and basically just trying to survive. His introduction is as the sole survivor of a failed raid on the military base supplies. He lives by a simple theory : eat, drink and have as much sex as you can. All the rest are pointless without these basic needs, so forget the higher ideals. He becomes part of Komasa when he stumbles into their "home" after he gets shot because he stabbed a US serviceman (who was involved in the theft at the base and "had it coming"). There is a brief power struggle between him and Sen, but his strength and power make for a natural leader. From then on, everyone defers to him. There also is an attraction for Shishido by both Sen and Maya and the entire groups tries to appease him.

There are elements of the baser and basic survival instincts of man. Those few things that try to elevate above it are crushed and extinguished. Seijun has some personal prejudices when it comes to this movie. He actually served in the Japanese army, stationed in the Phillipines. His military career started and ending with the Japanese retreating. At the time he still felt a bit angry at the US. This is represented in many fashions throughout the movie : the US GI rape of Maya, the MP's not caring, soup/ramen with a condom in it (merchant calls it healthy and nutritious food) and the appearance of the American flag. The flag is used every time something bad happens. It only has negative connotations, especially at the end where it is the last thing we see as the camera pans over the town. There also seems to be some mild capitalist vs communist debate going. At one instant one can hear the song of the international communist brotherhood being sung over all the dealings.

The movie is quite visually stunning. Takeo Kimura (the production designer) designed the sets. He was quite limited with funds. The movie need good sets but they were working with a B-movie budget. He used his theater background to create non-realistic surreal sets (theatre-like). They bring the movie (along with the costumes) to life. It gives the entire movie a theatrical feel. The bridge was even built with stolen used plywood from the props department. To make the paint go a long way, they would dilute the paint with water and add saw dust for thickening. This isn't a documentary. It is not suppose to emulate real life. It is an extreme look at life. Extreme characters in extreme circumstances. The movie also contains numerous scenes of nudity, female on female beatings, numerous sex scenes, plenty of violence and the butchering of a cow (which looks way too life-like). What more can one expect from the grandfather of the exploitation genre ?? I've seen numerous of Seijun's movies prior to this (the most recent being the Beast of Youth), but I was not expecting such a great movie. The Japanese cast and main actors do an excellent job. By the end you really care what happens to them. Seijun also included many American's in the cast as well, so expect to hear some English in the movie. I can't say enough about this movie. What are you still doing reading this, go out and see it for yourself.

-Celluloid Rehab

Having discovered the Female Prisoner Scorpion series recently, I've been looking out for more Japanese exploitation films and Gates of Flesh is an early example. The film is a bit artier than the other examples I've seen, and despite focuses on a nest of prostitutes; there isn't a lot of sex/nudity in it either. However, director Seijun Suzuki gets round this by giving the film a tremendously dark and unpleasant atmosphere that bodes well with the plot line as well as the time in which the film is set. The film is set shortly after World War II and we focus on a group of prostitutes who have come together to work for themselves. As a result, they have no pimp to answer to and so have to protect themselves also. They get a strict set of rules in place, which are enforced again by the girls themselves and the main rule states that none of them may give out what they sell for free. The group gets a new member in the form of a girl named Maya and shortly afterwards a thief seeks sanctuary with the prostitutes, and causes disruption within the group.

The plot is very ambiguous and it's never made clear exactly what the 'point' of any of the characters is, which on the one hand makes the film interesting as it means we have to work things out for ourselves; but on the other, the characters lack humanity and so the film can be a bit dry as a result. The director is apparently quite respected for making films like this; Gate of Flesh is the first one of his that I've seen so I cant comment on the body of his work, but clearly he is a director that values of the importance of making his films interesting and Gate of Flesh also looks very nice and the director gets the best out of his performers. I think that the director was hoping more to get a point across than anything else, but he also values style and that comes across well in the film also. The plot does flow fairly well, although at times it seems like there's not a lot happening so the film is not constantly entertaining. Overall, I won't name this film as a favourite of mine and I do prefer the more wild Japanese exploitation flicks; but this certainly isn't a bad film and I can recommend it.

I was under the impression when I rented this film that it was

directed by Sezuki Seijun, but the credits gave a different name. It

still might be him (it was something else Sezuki), and I am

assuming it was as I write this review.

Having totally fallen in love with Branded to Kill and, to a slightly

lesser extant, but not too much lesser, with Tokyo Drifter, I was

overjoyed to find this at the video store (I remembered having

heard at one point of its being on video). And I was even more

overjoyed to watch it. It's an amazing film which I would place

slightly ahead of Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill, giving it a 9/10.

The film opens right after the end of WWII with a young woman

starving in the street (not something I would expect from the two

previous yakuza films I've seen of Seijun's). She meets up with a

group of four prostitutes who allow her to work with them. They are

self-sufficient and need no pimp. They keep themselves in line

with the threat of torture if any one of them ever sleeps with a man

without accepting money. Of course, you can see the possibility for

exploitation, and there is exploitation, believe me. After a while, a

robust thug (Jo Shishido of Branded to Kill, cheekbones and all)

shows up in their crumbling household. They respect him

because he resists the GIs who try to keep the law in their city

(never specified) and those Japanese people who cooperate with

them. They're also all attracted to him. After this is developed, there

isn't much more plot - only a couple of events happen afterwards.

More or less, it is a character study and also a sociological study.

The anti-Americanism is very interesting to see. Seijun was a

soldier in the Japanese army himself and, although I could easily

point out that, hey, you started it, it's easy to understand what he

must have felt after he and his comrades lost a war, what it would

have done to the male psyche as well as the female (this film was

made about twenty years afterwards).

Some people would naturally hate this film because it mixes its

styles, often very harshly. It's really nothing that Godard wouldn't

have done - in fact, it's actually something that Godard, despite my

great affection for him and his films, could never have achieved; he

was far too interested in subverting filmic conventions and too

unconcerned with making interesting films at times. It is filmed in

color, and its art design/cinematography/costuming, everything

technical, is color coordinated in a way akin to something like a

1950s musical. Four of the five prostitutes are color-coated and

there is, for instance, an amazing scene where these four color- specific hookers muse over Shishido alone against a set

designed only in their colors. Often the film is quite melodramatic,

almost like a Douglas Sirk film. At other times, it is something like

sado-masochistic porno, especially during the torture scenes.

There are scenes akin to the brutality in Tokyo Drifter and Branded

to Kill; there is some major brutality to women (sometimes

inflicted by women), so if you're particularly sensitive to that, you

might want to avoid this. Also, if that's a problem with you, take

special measures to avoid Branded to Kill. You might want to skip

over this next description tot he next paragraph if you very easily get

sick or if you're a militant animal rights activist, but there is a

stunning scene where Jo Shishido slaughters a live cow. I'm pretty

sure it's a real scene of slaughter. If not, then it's a damned good

facsimile. If you were horrified at the real scenes of sacrifice in

Apocalypse Now, you might just want to avoid this film altogether.

The bottom line for me is that this film is a masterpiece. An insane

one, to be sure, but this film, as well as Tokyo Drifter and Branded

to Kill, demonstrate just how gorgeous insanity can be

sometimes. Janus Films, whose logo you see on the videotapes

before just about 90% of all foreign films that were made before

1970, and Home Vision Cinema, who distributes about everything

made after 1970, collaborated on the videotape that I watched,

which recently went out of print. Those two companies should be

ringing tons of bells for anyone who collects videos. Yup, those are

the two companies who produce DVDs' (and Laserdiscs') Criterion Collection, the only DVDs, in the long run, which are really

worth owning. This company has already released both Branded

to Kill and Tokyo Drifter. I pray to God - I'd even sell my soul to the

devil - so that Criterion will release Gate of Flesh and - please,

please God! (or Satan!) - other Seijun films, or even other films

which generally resemble his, if such other artists do exist, that I

have not seen or even heard of. Think about it Criterion. I know that

Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter aren't your most popular DVDs,

but, having talked to so many people who are discovering them

and having never resisted an opportunity to spread his name and

reputation to any other film buff I have met (and others who are

familiar with him do the same), I know that he is becoming a huge

cult item. In my mind, judging only by the three films of his that I've

seen, I prefer him even to Akira Kurosawa (I cannot comment on

Ozu or Mizoguchi; unfortunately, I have only ever seen one Ozu and

no Mizoguchis, merely based on availability), whom I generally

prefer to nearly every filmmaker with whom I am very familiar.

Suzuki is the master! He has made the greatest examples of 60's low budget exploitation cinema. The way he uses a different color to represent each of the prostitutes almost makes them appear like demons in that underground lair of theirs. But who is the real monster of the film? The occupying Americans who use the prostitutes? The prostitutes themselves? Or is it the hate filled ex-soldier (played by the great Joe Shishido!) who controls the women?