‘Story of a Prostitute’ shows desperation in a war-torn landscape
Watching Seijun Suzuki’s Story of a Prostitute, the 1965 drama that’s available on DVD from the Criterion Collection, is a largely forgettable affair. The story of this Story concerns a woman trying her best in a male-driven world of soldiers and war. Yumiko Nogawa plays Harumi, the title character. She lives a difficult existence and yearns for some connection beyond the daily routine of her thankless job. Harumi must meet the demands of the local soldiers, especially Lt. Narita (Isao Tamagawa), but her aspirations are elsewhere.
The look of Suzuki’s film is beautiful. The black-and-white images and the landscapes of this war-torn area pop off the screen, providing a fitting backdrop to this unfortunate story. The acting is mostly acceptable but overly emotional. The actors, including Tamio Kawachi as Mikami, are somewhat over the top in their displays of wants and needs. They shout their lines in unbelievable ways, almost to the point where the dialogue can prove grating. The quieter moments resonate much louder than the fight scenes.
Still, within this emotion Suzuki is able to find an unendurable hurt. He does not hold back on displaying Harumi’s anguish. For this woman, sex and love are two different entities. She refuses to offer one ounce of love to her clients, and instead reserves her longing for Mikami, the man she wishes to have monogamously.
The other competing theme in the movie is what happens when people buckle under pressure, especially when men find themselves in the middle of a war. The battle sequences, although secondary to the main arc of the story, provide a frame for how Harumi and her clients operate. There is a clear hierarchy, for example, even in personal settings. Narita commands respect, and this presents many problems because the lieutenant is a sadistic man with no thoughts about Harumi’s wellbeing.
Formulaic and thus predictable, Story of a Prostitute will not go down as a great foreign-language film that deserves one’s attention from generation to generation. The simple film provides a lens by which an audience member can see a person in distress trying every which way to keep her head above water. Harumi is a fascinating, broken character who is far from a pushover. She’s stuck in impossible circumstances, but she wants whatever respect is available in this hellish environment.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
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Story of a Prostitute
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1965
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Directed by Seijun Suzuki
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Written by Hajime Takaiwa; based on the novel by Taijiro Tamura
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Starring Yumiko Nogawa, Isao Tamagawa and Tamio Kawaji
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Running time: 96 minutes
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Not Rated
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Rating:
