This film by Kinuyo Tanaka is a moving account of the lives of women disgraced in post WW II Japan for having become prostitutes. The movie follows a group of women hosted by a rehabilitation center after prostitution became ilegal. It focuses on one of them, Kuniko, in her search for a new life as she is allowed to leave the center.
Most of the characters are women and their acting is great. Life in the real world turns out to be harsh for Kuniko: the story is told as crudely as a realistic view of life may allow. Some excerpts are perhaps lacking in subtlety, or the plot may be insufficiently worked out, as it seems it would be not difficult to make it gain richness and complexity. This is most remarkable in what concerns the brief episode where Kuniko seduces her boss, the shop owner.
Towards the middle of the story, a male character - Tsukasa -- appears to bring a refreshing, soothing change in the way Destiny has treated Kuniko. However both Kuniko and Tsukasa soon learn that happiness escapes their reach. Tanaka wants to underline this feature in the concrete situation, in the fifties in Japan, of women whose fate is haunted by the indelible stain of prostitution. Forgiveness is not possible and it starts inside the sinner itself. Hence the finale (in a most Christian flavor!) carries signs of resignation and redemption.
What a pleasant movie, in the current state of cinema, where disappointment lurks at the threshold of most theaters as you step in.
