Gate of Flesh (1964)
"Nikutai no mon" (original title)

After World War II, some Tokyo prostitutes band together with a strict code: no pimps, attack any street walker who comes into our territory, defend the abandoned building we call home, and... See full summary »

Director:

Seijun Suzuki

Writers:

Taijiro Tamura (novel), Goro Tanada

Stars:

Yumiko Nogawa, Jô Shishido, Kayo Matsuo

Cast

Credited cast:
Yumiko Nogawa	...	Maya
Jô Shishido	...	Shintaro Ibuki
Kayo Matsuo	...	Omino
Satoko Kasai	...	Sen
Tamiko Ishii	...	Oroku
Misako Tominaga	...	Machiko
Isao Tamagawa	...	Horidome
Kôji Wada	...	Abe
Keisuke Noro	...	Ishii
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kuniko Kawanishi
Chico Roland	...	Black Pastor

Storyline

After World War II, some Tokyo prostitutes band together with a strict code: no pimps, attack any street walker who comes into our territory, defend the abandoned building we call home, and punish whomever gives away sex (who falls in love). Maya, a young woman whose family has died, joins the group. Into the mix comes Shin, a thief who's killed a G.I. The women allow him to hide while recovering from wounds, but then he won't leave. Maya is drawn to him, discovering as she falls in love that she can feel again; she's now more fully human, but at the same time, she's endangered herself and her livelihood. Can she and Shin make it out of Tokyo to establish life as a couple?

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Plot Keywords:

sex | prostitute | soldier | robbery | post war | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

11 December 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Barriera di carne - La porta del corpo

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

A downward shot pans across a crowd following a stretcher. When straight down, you see the shadow of the camera, crane and the camera operator.

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Connections

Referenced in From the Ruins: Making 'Gate of Flesh' (2005)

User Reviews

Far doors

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.