• Director(s)

    Noboru Nakamura

  • Production Year

    1964

  • Genre(s)

    Drama

  • Approx. running minutes

    94m

  • Cast

    Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira, Keisuke Sonoi

Film

The Shape of Night

sexual violence

THE SHAPE OF THE NIGHT is a Japanese drama, from 1964, in which a woman is forced into sex work by her violent, debt-ridden boyfriend and meets a customer who tries to convince her to leave her dire situation. …

THE SHAPE OF THE NIGHT is a Japanese drama, from 1964, in which a woman is forced into sex work by her violent, debt-ridden boyfriend and meets a customer who tries to convince her to leave her dire situation.

sexual violence and sexual threat
A man coerces a young woman into becoming a sex worker in order to pay his debts to a criminal syndicate. He becomes physically violent and sexually assaults her when she refuses to comply with his demands. There is also a sustained scene of sexual threat and sexualised violence in which a gang of criminals pin a woman onto the ground and place a cushion over her face. This is followed by an implied gang rape while the victim's partner sits helplessly outside the room. However, this occurs off-screen and the victim is shown lying on the ground in the aftermath.
There are undetailed stabbings which are devoid of any injury detail. Black-and-white news footage depicts a clash between protesters and police. Moderate bad language (‘whore’, ‘bitch’) occurs, as well as milder terms such as ‘piss’, ‘ass’, ‘tart’, ‘damn’ and ‘butt’. There are references to sex and sex work. Characters are frequently shown smoking cigarettes.

  • Director(s)

    Noboru Nakamura

  • Production Year

    1964

  • Genre(s)

    Drama

  • Approx. running minutes

    94m

  • Cast

    Miyuki Kuwano, Mikijiro Hira, Keisuke Sonoi

sexual violence
Classified Date:
31/01/2024
Version:
2D
Use:
Physical media + VOD/Streaming
Distributor:
Radiance Films
sexual violence and sexual threat
A man coerces a young woman into becoming a sex worker in order to pay his debts to a criminal syndicate. He becomes physically violent and sexually assaults her when she refuses to comply with his demands. There is also a sustained scene of sexual threat and sexualised violence in which a gang of criminals pin a woman onto the ground and place a cushion over her face. This is followed by an implied gang rape while the victim's partner sits helplessly outside the room. However, this occurs off-screen and the victim is shown lying on the ground in the aftermath.
There are undetailed stabbings which are devoid of any injury detail. Black-and-white news footage depicts a clash between protesters and police. Moderate bad language (‘whore’, ‘bitch’) occurs, as well as milder terms such as ‘piss’, ‘ass’, ‘tart’, ‘damn’ and ‘butt’. There are references to sex and sex work. Characters are frequently shown smoking cigarettes.

  • Classified date

    31/01/2024

  • Language

    Japanese