"Women of the Night" is an amazingly blunt and hard-edged look at the life of some women in the immediate years after WWII. Japan was in ruins, the economy was a mess and unemployment was rampant. For ladies whose husbands died during the war, life was often VERY tough. This film is about two sisters who eventually find each other during the chaos of this era. Both are trying to make ends meet--but it's very tough. One finally gets what looks like a good job--though her boss turns out to be a total creep. She sleeps with him--not realizing that at the same time her sister is going the same. And, when she ends up getting pregnant, the man couldn't care less! From here, it's a downward spiral into the brutal world of prostitution. Is there any escape or is disease and death the only way out of this mess?

This is an odd film from Kenji Mizoguchi. Although many of his films are about the maltreatment of women and push for better treatment of women, this one is odd because so often it's brutal and realistic but at other times it comes off as exceptionally preachy and unreal--especially the ending. It just doesn't work and the film would have been better with a hard edge throughout. Still, if you can handle how depressing and awful the film can be, it is well made and gives a rare look into this awful period.

Fusako Owada, a young woman in postwar Japan, is the mistress of a notorious drug dealer. Fusako's tenuous grasp on meaningful life is shaken when she learns that her lover is having an affair with her sister.

This film is generally dismissed as one of Mizoguchi's "lesser" films, and has been called a "good melodrama" -- something of a backhanded compliment. I like to think it was a bit more than that.

Aside from the drug aspect and the sister relationship, just the mistress status alone is worth examining. This is a very emotional part, as can be seen when the secretary asks if her boss really likes her. He gives a response along the lines of "I will try to be more affectionate." She is craving real love, and he is only acting the part...

Mizoguchi is never subtle in his films. His films would work better in black and white even if color was the norm in Japan. In this film the great Kinuyo Tanaka, who has starred in other Mizoguchi films, is Fusako, a war widow who also buried a son who has to become a prostitute to live. Her sister Naksuko, played by Sanae Takasuga and their sister in law Kumiko (Tomie Tsunoda) also become ones also. Osaka is depicted as being full of prostitutes, and that could have very well been accurate at the time. Mizoguchi, fascinated in many of his films with the downtrodden, does his usual superior job but the film really is essential due to the acting of Kinuyo Tanaka and Sanae Takasuga. They bring a realistic, grim situation to live. Of course, this film is not a happy one, but if you can take that, this is another near masterpiece of Kenji Mizoguchi.