Gate of Flesh (1964) review

In brutal post-WWII Japan, where a good portion of the population is malnourished and lacking any funds, a group of prostitutes - including Maya (Yumiko Nogawa), Machiko (Misako Tominaga) and Oroku (Tomiko Ishii) - band together and vow to never have sex for free ("Our bodies are our merchandise") ... but when war veteran Ibuki (Joe Shishido) appears, his presence causes a lot of in-fighting.  This goes to show that director Suzuki is fully capable of telling a straightforward and meaningful story without resorting to editing and stylistic tricks, and he's no doubt pulling from his own personal history (he served in the Imperial Japanese Army): he shows a country that's disgraced and desperate ... but also resilient.  It has some unwelcome B-movie elements, like Chico Lourant as a priest who commits suicide, a cow getting slaughtered (in graphic detail) and several scenes of the ladies being whipped (that should only appeal to the S&M crowd), but otherwise it's colorful and engaging.