Gate of Flesh

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?

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'.

An exploitation film with a brain. We see nude women tastefully lit, kinky violence - women beating other women and the low life of Tokyo outdoing each other in even more dastardly acts of treachery and heartless thuggery. The intelligence comes with the strong impact of the women dressing in vibrant red, purple, yellow and green to reflect their characters. Having the prostitutes live in a building that is an analogy for post-war Japan is even smarter. The building is bombed out, its occupants desperate, many have lost family in the war and for some the sight of people burned to death has made them individually heartless, desperate and mad. The fact that most of them live in the basement indicates that they have plummeted into the depths of hell. For cinema goers in Japan in 1964, just enjoying the fruits of the boom years for their rebuilt economy and also a new found pride and respectability, this must have been a sobering but also satisfying reminder of where they had been and how far they had come.

Seijun Suzuki's wide screen portrait of post-war Tokyo shows a ruined city reverted back to a primitive state of barbarity, where the only law among the society of pimps, thieves and prostitutes is Survival of the Fittest. Be forewarned: although it may be tame by today's permissive standards the film is still overtly violent, in both content and style. The garish color scheme alone is often more shocking than the animal philosophy of the gang of hookers, whose punishment for compassion among their ranks is an enthusiastic whipping. Suzuki never was the most subtle filmmaker, and the crass, uncensored vitality displayed here approaches low exploitation even while it probes with subtle insight the psychology of a vanquished nation.

Yet another brilliant work from director Suzuki Seijun, who manages to create (in almost every frame) a world in which lurid pulp paperback cover paintings have come to life! This tale of the rampant desperation of mere existence in post-WWII Tokyo is simply stunning on all counts. "Nikutai no Mon" ("Gate of Flesh") is both bleakly realistic, and flamboyantly artistic. It is brutal, shocking, funny, and depressing--sometimes all at once! Excellent cinema--not to be missed by any Japanese film buffs.