Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Console best movie i've ever seen.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

EVOL666 I had no idea what to expect going into GATE OF FLESH. It's yet another in a long line of discs that I've had lying around for ages that I acquired several years back in my film- trading days.  From the title I was expecting some sort of Euro art-house porn-what I got was something entirely different...The storyline revolves around a group of hookers in post WWII Japan-where thieving, prostitution, black-markets, and overall abject poverty are the order of the day. The film is basically a snapshot of the women's lives and life in their little shantytown in general. Once the audience is brought up to speed on the women and their daily routines-a monkey-wrench is thrown into the mix, in the way of Shin-an ex-Japanese military man who invades their domain and becomes an object of admiration (and lust) to the hookers. The actual story of the film hits it's stride when Shin's involvement with the women begins to cause derision amongst them...Although there doesn't seem to be many such films-I've always enjoyed the few that i've seen that mix true historical subject-matter with an exploitation-film style. Excluding more campy films that might fall into this genre (like pretty much the entire Nazisploit sub- genre...) the only others that readily come to mind were from Chinese director T. F. Mou with his films LOST SOULS, MEN BEHIND THE SUN, and THE NANKING MASSACRE. Though not nearly as blatantly exploitative as the aforementioned-GATE OF FLESH has a similar 'vibe'. There's obviously an air of authenticity that is felt throughout the film (the cramped, sweaty environments and layer of grime that literally seemed to coat the film), but the material is also handled in a somewhat off-hand way that was sure to also come off as 'shocking' to audiences at the time. I also found GATE OF FLESH to be an interesting, precursory look at what was soon to come of the actual pinku genre, once it hit in Japan a few years later. Although definitely not a pink-film by definition-most of the trappings were there-just not as blatantly and full-on exploitative as they would become in later films. I also am a sucker for a down-beat ending-and this one delivers on that front as well. The cinematography, sets, and acting are all very solid for what is obviously a low-budget film, even for it's time. Overall, I would say that this film may not necessarily be 'enjoyable' so to speak-but it's definitely an interesting and well-made look into both the subject-matter that it portrays, and the early roots of Japanese exploitation cinema in general. I will warn the sleaze-heads out there though-if you're looking for the typical nudity and rape-fueled  type of film that we all know and love-you'll definitely be disappointed. Although the way it's shot is cleverly done-there is no actual female nudity in this one. In fact-the only nudity we do get is a bit of man-ass. A shame- I would've rated it a little higher had we seen some goods-but I'll forgive that as much as I can given the 1964 time-stamp. Regardless-a solid film that I'd recommend for fans of this era of Japanese film-making. 7.5/10

Meganeguard 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.

elihu-2 Born on May 24, 1923, Seijun Suzuki was a trade school drop-out and a soldier before studying film at Kamakura academy. After graduating in 1948, he was employed at Ofuna Studio as an assistant director. He began his full-fledged directing career at Nikkatsu in 1954, where he subsequently made 40 films. Most of these were quickie crime thrillers which were akin to Hollywood B-movies. Within the constricting confines of the mercenary studio system, Suzuki was nonetheless able to find his own unique creative sensibility.His earliest films bear a renegade, sensual flair and a vibrant visual style unsurpassed by more recent work in both the West and Asia. Working in Cinemascope, he used the widescreen frame to full effect, composing intricate shots which seem almost three dimensional, due to somewhat elaborate staging and the novel device of using dissolves to show characters and action on the opposite side of the room or space to which the main camera is pointing.GATE OF FLESH (1964) exemplifies this. One of Suzuki's most atypical films, it tells the tale of a pimp-less group of hellcat prostitutes trying to survive in the chaotic, crime-ridden arena of post-war Tokyo. Living by a strict code, any of their number can be severely physically punished for sleeping with a man for free. Puffy-cheeked Suzuki regular Jo Shishido plays Shintaro Ibuki, a macho renegade former soldier who deals on the black market and comes to lord it over the band of women. Captivating each of them, he causes a rift among them in which the young novice hooker Maya suffers the most, as she is totally enamored of him. The film is intensely visceral, outrageous, and risque, even today. It must have been positively explosive in 1964, with its sweating, erotically-driven characters, fairly explicit depictions of sex, and savage scenes in which naked women are tied up and whipped by other women. The aggressive sensuality is further enhanced by the Fujicolor processing, which accentuates the reds and greens.Due to his interpid nonconformism, Suzuki was fired from Nikkatsu in 1968. Amid shake-ups and financial problems at the studio, the suits decided to jettison him for making "incomprehensible" films. This prompted a massive movement on his behalf organized by his fans of time, who were mostly college students. With their support, as well as that of the Director's Guild of Japan, Suzuki filed a court case for wrongful dismissal. He won the case, but the resulting furor got him blacklisted out of the studio system, and Suzuki was only able to resume making feature films in 1977, albeit independently.

denwa A jump and you meeting like in a film of Oshima or Mizogouchi. Nikutai Mon (1964) can not be seen like a scandal or like a true masterpiece. The personage, nearly a samurai bankrupt, played by the hounded man is exemplar in order to understand like Japan same changing, in the forecasts of Mishima, worse. For being more clear I will say Japan in free fall. An example is the here impotent police while in group the young people kill and stole. Under this optical the worlds formed from this man and these three women is parallel, peculiar, sadist. Turned always holding the cinema camera to level of the human eye: Nikutai not Mon (1964) a little reassuring neorealism, the land rendered fertile from the tragedy of Seppuku, directed from Kobayashi time before. Now Japanese cinema has nothing more to say while collects the fragments of its tradition.