1948 | Japan | Fiction

Yoru no onnatachi (Women of the Night)

  • Japanese 74 mins
  • Director | Kenji Mizoguchi
  • Writer | Yoshikata Yoda
  • Producer | Hisao Itoya

STATUS: Released

This film is currently not available.   

After World War II, Mizoguchi was inspired by Italian neorealism to make one of the most emotionally and visually raw films of his career. Filmed on location in Osaka, Women of the Night concerns two sisters—Fusako, a war widow, and Natsuko, having an affair with a narcotics smuggler—who along with their younger friend Kumiko descend into prostitution and moral chaos amid the postwar devastation surrounding them.

Prostitution Postwar Struggle Desolation Osaka
Film Organizations
The Criterion Collection
DISTRIBUTION