Story of a Prostitute (Criterion Collection)

Starring:Yumiko Nogawa, Tamio Kawaji, Shigeyoshi Fujioka, Sokoto Kasai, Hideaki Esumi, Hiroshi Cho, Kotoe Hatsui, Kayo Matsuo, Shoichi Ozawa, Isao Tamagawa, Kaku Takashina, Toshio Sugiyama, Tomiko Ishii, Midori Mori
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Studio: Criterion
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Best known for his pop-art gangster epics like Tokyo Drifter and Pistol Opera, Japanese director Seijun Suzuki previously applied his startling camera angles, jolting editing, and hypnotic compositions to this military melodrama. Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa, who also starred in Suzuki's Gate of Flesh) is a ferociously independent prostitute who becomes a "comfort woman" for soldiers at the front of the Japan-China war in 1937. A brutal officer named Narita (Isao Tamagawa, later to appear in Suzuki's Branded to Kill) claims her for his use, but she falls in love with his passive, conflicted orderly Mikami (Tamio Kawaji, who also acted in Suzuki's Youth of the Beast--clearly, Suzuki liked his stars!). In this world, love is a few moments of ecstasy in an ocean of torment, and Suzuki cranks up both: During sex, Harumi curls her full, sensual lips into a violent grimace of pleasure; when Mikami kicks her away in his early attempts to resist her, Harumi's convulsions go into slow-motion while her crazed shrieks reverberate at regular speed on the soundtrack, lifting her agony to mythological heights. You know their affair will end badly, but Suzuki's feverish pitch compels you all the way down, and his emotional commitment gives Story of a Prostitute a very different feel from his more aloof and experimental gangster movies. The extras for this Criterion disk are few, but interviews with Suzuki, his production designer Takeo Kimura, and film critic Tadao Sato provide some valuable historical context and insight into Suzuki's directorial methods. --Bret Fetzer
Description
Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa) is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita (Isao Tamagawa) but falls for the sensitive Mikami (Tamio Kawachi), Narita's direct subordinate. In this tragic love story, director Seijun Suzuki delivers a rule-bending take on the popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

The Story of O
Average customer rating:

No Star if it were possible

A bit clumsy

you're better off reading the book

Is this really what most "normal people" call erotic?

Not dominant submissive but metaphor

The Story of O
Starring: Corinne Clery , Udo Kier , Anthony Steel , Jean Gaven , and Christiane Minazzoli
Director: Just Jaeckin
Manufacturer: Somerville House
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Story of O

Intimacy (Unrated, Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000065RSW
Release Date: 2006-09-20

Amazon.com

A milestone of cinematic eroticism, The Story of O was an art house sensation in 1975, and it's still worthy of intelligent discussion. As with the controversial French novella by Pauline Réage, reactions to Just Jaeckin's sumptuous adaptation range from moral outrage to masturbatory indulgence, yet this remains one of the few sex films that stand the test of time (and a lot of academic study). Championed by practitioners of bondage and discipline and vilified by feminists, this metaphorical "love dream" (as Jaeckin has called it) follows the beautiful fashion photographer "O" (Corrine Clery) as she, like many gorgeously naked women before her, is "trained" for a seemingly satisfying life of love and discipline, her freedom sacrificed to the man (Anthony Steel) whom she willingly obeys. The debate whether Jaeckin's feminine-empowerment ending, which differs from that of the novella, justifies a story of humiliating submission is just one more reason why The Story of O endures. (Note: This DVD presents the 97-minute version of the film, edited by the director to improve pacing and not for purposes of censorship.) --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

No Star if it were possible.......2007-06-08

I was so disappointed by this purchase and this film. Being a fan of the book I was very excited to see how they translated it on to film. What I found out is that they didn't translate it at all. They LOOSELY followed the story line and took the liberty to add and change which in my opinion, changed the story all together. I threw this movie away and would not reccomend it to any true Story of O fan.

A bit clumsy.......2007-05-15

Somehow, I was expecting better acting, knowing this would be a major undertaking based on a controversial book. Sadly, the film just doesn't work. There's no arguing Corrine Clery's beauty but Udo Kier is completely miscast.

you're better off reading the book.......2007-04-04

The book is amazing; this movie adaptation is quite poor. Although the actress who plays O is quite beautiful, and there are some fairly erotic scenes, this movie is deeply flawed, and I can't recommend it. The plotline gets totally garbled, especially toward the end, to the point where it runs entirely contrary to the book's intention on several key philosophical and psychological points. Second, the actor who plays Stephen is absolutely one of the worst casting choices I've ever seen; doesn't fit the role one bit. So please, read the book. If you've already read the book and love it, it is probably worth your while to eventually see this film, but expect to be disappointed.

Is this really what most "normal people" call erotic?.......2007-02-17

This is one of the most boring films I ever watched. There is nothing erotic in it. The whole story is perverted with a poor, innocent but very stupid woman submitting to the sadist fantasies of various "lovers" she is introduced. I put inverted comas in lovers because none of them have a single tender erotic moment with her, but instead they brutally beat her and rape her in the presence of others, who seem to be totally oblivious to the proceedings.

Not dominant submissive but metaphor.......2007-02-15

I have not yet read the originating novel, but I have just finished watching this movie for the second time. I was renting it. Now I'm going to buy it - one of very few, as I almost never buy movies.

I must say that I found much more in it the second time. The first time not only did the physical and emotional whippings disturb me but, just as much, O's willing apparent debasement and her masters' disregard for her feelings - they only seemed to care about her obedience. This is an anti-turnon for me. The sex scenes are not really convincing, nor are the whippings. I realized that I, as audience, was not being asked to accept that much pain or that much pleasure from either.

The male characters are much more flat than the female ones, particularly O, as if they really didn't count. And there was something in this most beautiful woman's portrayal which left me thinking it wasn't at all simple.

Bottom line, it is abundantly clear that this is far, far more than an S&M movie, nor is it about bondage, submission and domination, or any other kind of sexual perversion or obsession.

Some phrases stuck out to me, although I'm not sure I'm quoting exactly accurately. The narrator said the O loved everything and everyone that came to her because it came to her by request from her lover. She said that O knew that if she lasted to the end that all would be given to her. O's apparent peace of mind about everything that happened to her simply didn't gybe with a debasement/submissive/sexual perversion sort of story. She definitely does not come across as sick. She, at times, was as deeply terrified or ashamed as any normal woman would be in the circumstances and yet continued freely to accept the demands of obedience to those who loved her and those who didn't. I was puzzled at how easily she accepted that Rene was no longer her lover, and continued to do exactly the same thing with Sir Stefan. All of this indicated that something much deeper than anything relatively superficial about perversion, infatuation, and so-on was going on. It made far too deep an impression the first time I saw the movie, even without understanding it. It made me think that it was, as another reviewer mentioned, hitting some archetypes, and something deep in the human spirit.

I began to think of the whole story as an extended metaphor about the demands and rewards of love. When we love, we willingly go through hell for the sake of love -- not just for the sake of the lover. The love relationship places heavy demands of obedience on us. It whips us and debases us -- love and its intimacy always find our weaknesses, and their exposure makes us feel naked, beaten and debased. But love always allows us the freedom to opt out, as did O's lovers and masters. And something deep within us always knows that, if we succumb to the abasement we may feel, and accept the beating our feelings take, that love, real human love, marks us forever as O was marked, and enbles us to love and be loved fully and deeply, and gives us peace -- indeed, it grants us everything. O shows us how wonderful it can become if we are not overly defensive about our selves in the service of love.

The movie itself does not look as dated as you would think for a 1974 movie -- actually, not at all. The color is a little unsaturated compared to the kind of color we have today, and this contributes to the fantasy that is clearly being spun. I happen to enjoy naked women a lot, and there are a lot of them in this movie, fully frontal, more than a glimpse, naked and unashamed. There are few scenes that are fully clothed for very long. I thought all were beautiful women, self-possessed, graceful, fully feminine and sensual without being affected.

The two brief closeup shots of "female genitalia", as one reviewer put it, (although he apparently didn't even notice them), are exquisitely done - just close enough, just long enough, just modest enough, just open enough.

There is a visual potpourri of modern day (for 1974), turn-of-the-century wealth and romanticism, and even some medieval castles and costumes. The only thing that bothered me even temporarily was Sir Stefan's overly-coiffed hairdo, but it didn't take long to get past it. It's a legitimate part of his character.

And the best comment of all came from my wife when the movie was over. And I hasten to add that there are absolutely no submissive or dominative tendencies in her at all. She said, "Wierd. Wow. That's one very sexy movie".

Average customer rating:

Raw Look at the 1950s

Last Exit to Brooklyn

Manufacturer: Dawoori
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
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Product Features:

Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
All-Region NTSC Code 0
In ENGLISH with optional (removable) subtitles in English and Korean
SPECIAL FEATURES: Scene Selections; Cast & Crew; About The Film; Theatrical Trailer; Other Trailers
Officially licensed release from South Korea; some printing on the artwork is in Korean.

ASIN: B000CRKW9A

Product Description

SUMMARY: Set in Brooklyn during the 1950s against a backdrop of union corruption and violence. A prostitute falls in love with one of her customers. Also a disturbed man discovers that he is homosexual. [IMDB - Mark Logan] REVIEW: In 1952, a panoramic view of the other side of North America is presented through the life of different characters and their dramatic stories, having Brooklyn in common. Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a prostitute, connected with a violent street gang composed of small time crooks. They swindle most of Tralala clients, stealing their money. She meets a young lieutenant from Idaho, who falls in love with her. The labor union is on strike against the employers, placing picket against the trucks and protesting in front of the factory. American soldiers are again fighting in another war, this time against Korea. Maybe the only missing point in this film is the declared racism of those times. This sad, depressive and violent movie is another great work of Uli Edel, mainly known by 'Christiane F'. The cast has amazingly performances, and the scene when Tralala is raped by dozens of men in an abandoned car is one of the most strong I have ever seen in a movie. I agree with the words of IMDB User Comments: 'Great film, but not a piece of entertainment'. My vote is eight. [IMDB Claudio Carvalho]

Customer Reviews:

Raw Look at the 1950s.......2007-06-08

This is a frank filming of the Hubert Selby novel about the brutality of street life in Brooklyn 1952. If you like "happy" films, this isn't for you. But if you appreciate a good dose of realism, the film is remarkable.

Story of a Prostitute (Criterion Collection)

Average customer rating:

a contoversial and ground breaking love story
A Visually Complex Tale of a Woman's Role in a Patriarchal World...
We Could Leave Together

Story of a Prostitute (Criterion Collection)
Starring: Yumiko Nogawa , Tamio Kawaji , Shigeyoshi Fujioka , Sokoto Kasai , and Hideaki Esumi
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009HLCW4
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Amazon.com

Best known for his pop-art gangster epics like Tokyo Drifter and Pistol Opera, Japanese director Seijun Suzuki previously applied his startling camera angles, jolting editing, and hypnotic compositions to this military melodrama. Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa, who also starred in Suzuki's Gate of Flesh) is a ferociously independent prostitute who becomes a "comfort woman" for soldiers at the front of the Japan-China war in 1937. A brutal officer named Narita (Isao Tamagawa, later to appear in Suzuki's Branded to Kill) claims her for his use, but she falls in love with his passive, conflicted orderly Mikami (Tamio Kawaji, who also acted in Suzuki's Youth of the Beast--clearly, Suzuki liked his stars!). In this world, love is a few moments of ecstasy in an ocean of torment, and Suzuki cranks up both: During sex, Harumi curls her full, sensual lips into a violent grimace of pleasure; when Mikami kicks her away in his early attempts to resist her, Harumi's convulsions go into slow-motion while her crazed shrieks reverberate at regular speed on the soundtrack, lifting her agony to mythological heights. You know their affair will end badly, but Suzuki's feverish pitch compels you all the way down, and his emotional commitment gives Story of a Prostitute a very different feel from his more aloof and experimental gangster movies. The extras for this Criterion disk are few, but interviews with Suzuki, his production designer Takeo Kimura, and film critic Tadao Sato provide some valuable historical context and insight into Suzuki's directorial methods. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa) is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita (Isao Tamagawa) but falls for the sensitive Mikami (Tamio Kawachi), Narita's direct subordinate. In this tragic love story, director Seijun Suzuki delivers a rule-bending take on the popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Customer Reviews:

a contoversial and ground breaking love story.......2005-12-20

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"Story of a Prostitute" known in japan as "Shunpu den" is about a comfort woman serving Japanese soldiers in Manchuria. She eventually falls in love with one of her clients. The film is known for its criticism of the way soldiers work and was popular.

The special features on the DVD are a theatrical trailer and interviews with the Director Seijun Suzuki, production designer Takeo Kimura, and Japanese film critic Tadao Sato.

This film is recommended for any fan of Japanese cinema

A Visually Complex Tale of a Woman's Role in a Patriarchal World..........2005-09-16

Historically, women have had to find a way to live in the patriarchal societies throughout the world, as their destinies most often involved marriage. Marriage offered safety, social acceptance, and the basic needs for a woman, as the man was the breadwinner. On occasion, some women sought anew destiny, less accepted and much more dangerous, as they had to find a way to make a living by themselves. However, in a world governed by men the women discovered the difficulty of solitude away from the men who did not want to pay for a woman's labor. Thus, many of these adventures women ended up in the world's oldest profession - prostitution. This was a profession frowned upon by married women who perceived these professional women as a threat to their very existence while the men continued to disrespect these women. Seijun Suzuki tells his version of a woman choosing her own path in Story of A Prostitute where the female protagonist, Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa), escapes criminal conviction to a remote province occupied by the Japanese.

The wind is pulling Harumi's hair while she stares into her uncertain future. Aimlessly she begins to wander downhill of a remote desert mountain. Emptiness and loneliness are the first two things that strike the audience when observing Harumi walking straight into the desert. The eerie score enhances the despair and desperate feelings that Harumi must experience. This symbolical opening presents the idea of her isolation within the society and the hopelessness of her situation. However, halfway down the mountain she trips, stands up, and as if she has been reborn, she turns around and walks back into the civilization. Before she returns to civilization, she glances back into her past to what brought her to this point in her life, as the audience will discover that the man she loved is marrying another woman. Vindictively she injured the man and now she must escape the possibility of prison and seek a new opportunity, as a pleasure girl on the Manchurian front.

Regardless of the dangers and lurking death that corner the path of being a prostitute serving the Japanese occupation forces, Harumi walks fearlessly into the mouth of the dragon. Her courage might stem from knowing that she does not have many other choices in life and must make the most of this situation, or maybe, it is the recent heartache that sets off her recklessness. Whatever the reason, Harumi understands that she cannot return to her previous life, as it would most likely end her life the way she knows it. Thus, she enters a war zone where a highly motivated resistance force does anything to defy the Japanese military.

The soldiers quickly discover Harumi's arrival in the provincial village where the military has its headquarters. It obvious that the brothel in which she is to work serves the function of a sanitarium that helps to heal broken minds and spirits for yearning soldiers. Being a newcomer to the brothel serves like a fresh wind in a hot and humid summer day, when a simple breeze delivers a refreshing moment. The men are many while there are only a few women present to provide a quick moment of emotional relief. The women are the only source for a brief moment of humanity while the merciless Japanese war machine indoctrinates inhumanity to the soldiers. Like dogs, the soldiers obey their superiors, as fear controls the lot of them. However, there are a few outsiders who question the leadership's philosophy while a handful obedient serve their masters. Harumi serves no one, but herself. However, she discovers that she cannot escape the long arm of males even in this desolate village in the far Manchuria.

The soldiers lives becomes an analogy for a woman's existence, as the officers command the soldiers the way men tend to command the women. Through Lieutenant Narita (Isao Tamagawa) the oppression becomes very real, as he breaks whatever resistance he might encounter with his utter control and overwhelming brutality. Harumi finds herself being in the path of Narita who in their first encounter begins to command her existence after having legally raped her. The sadistic Narita cleary seeks to destroy her spirit and make her his own finger-puppet. Harumi's hatred for him begins to simmer to boiling point, but helplessly she discovers that she cannot touch Narita without harming herself.

In time of desperation, Harumi meets Private Mikami (Tamio Kawachi) who turns into her knight in shining armor. First, it seems like she attempts to plot a deceitful plan where Mikami would turn on Lieutenant Narita. However, it is a fruitless plan, as Mikami honorably does anything to regain his lost position within the officers. In the process, Harumi finds herself falling in love with Mikami who desires nothing else than fit into the Japanese military machine. Like a lapdog, Mikami, obeys every move and word of Narita, as he is put to the most demeaning tasks. Soon the audience realizes that the relationship between Harumi and Mikami is doomed from the first moment. A quagmire of emotional and social predicaments worsens the situation, but still Harumi tries to convince him to escape elsewhere for a new beginning.

The socioeconomic, political, and emotional complexity within the film stirs a heavy dose of visual artistry into the cinematic blend. Cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka's keen eye for visual symbolism enhances the scenes together with Seijun Suzuki's brilliant direction. Not to forget, the editing of Story of a Prostitute is nothing short of perfection, as Akira Suzuki applies his final touch of cinematic magic that will help deliver an amazing tale of a woman's struggle. The social issues intelligently weave together into a personal and communal narrative that slowly generates a life of their own. This is a life that provides a powerful awakening, as it nourishes introspective contemplation and a profound examination of the patriarchal society. The intricacies between man and woman emerge, as the state forcefully oppresses its barriers on those who resist. The oppression within the story leaves the viewer with an unforgettable cinematic experience in an economical, political, historical, social, and psychological perspective.

We Could Leave Together.......2005-09-05

After her lover abandons her, the prostitute Harumi heads north from Tianjin to offer her services to the Imperial Japanese Army. One of thirteen women serving an entire battalion, With the soldiers literally lined up outside the door, Harumi services common soldiers, noncommissioned officers, and officers with the first coming at one, the second at four, and the third at eight. As soon as one man finishes another one is there to take his place. One prostitute estimated that there were some one hundred soldiers for every woman. However, this is what Harumi desires. She wants to sleep with as many men as possible in order to forget her former lover.

Yet, after she becomes the unwilling mistress of Lt. Narita, Harumi desires to escape not so much from the life of a prostitute, but from the violently possessive officer. It is with this desire in mind that she pursues Cpl. Mikami a quiet man who does all in his power to be the epitome of a good Japanese soldier while serving Lt. Narita, but receives only torment from his superior. Unwilling at first, Mikami eventually begins a clandestine affair with Harumi, however, he feels guilty because he believes that he has betrayed his commanding officer. Harumi on the other hand feels that she has found the man who might rescue her from Lt. Narita, but can she truly depend on a man who willingly allows himself to be beaten and humiliated because of military decorum?

Although I enjoyed some of Suzuki's other films more than Story of a Prostitute, such as Gate of Flesh and Fighting Elegy, this film should be viewed by individuals who want to see the day to day life of the prostitutes who served the Japanese Army. The number of men they had to service each day is staggering. However, although they have to bend before the will of the army, the women are depicted as strong individuals who sometimes refuse to have intercourse with certain soldiers. Therefore the story of the prostitutes is not so much tragic but more as a tale of strength. A pretty good film by Suzuki, but if you get the chance, watch Gate of Flesh instead.

Average customer rating:

Story of O
Starring: Jean-Pierre Andréani , Gabriel Cattand , Corinne Clery , Jean Gaven , and Martine Kelly
Director: Just Jaeckin
Manufacturer: VSC
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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