Gate of Flesh

In the shell-shocked, rubble-strewn wasteland of postwar Tokyo during the Allied Occupation, a group of prostitutes band to together to form a makeshift guild with the aim of pooling their resources to build a dancehall called Paradise. As their independent existence becomes threatened by the hawkish parade of gangsters, black marketeers and would-be pimps all looking for a cut from their flesh-peddling, the discovery of an unexploded bomb in the cavernous burned-out building where they ply their trade throws their dreams into further jeopardy. Hideo Gosha (Violent Streets, Yakuza Wives) brings a fresh eye to this oft-filmed story by Taijiro Tamura, best known from its 1964 adaptation by Seijun Suzuki, resulting in a powerful and compelling drama.