A young woman from the countryside falls in love with a handsome hoodlum who pushes her into a life of prostitution

A young woman from the countryside (Miyuki Kuwano of Oshima's Cruel Story of Youth) falls in love with a handsome hoodlum (Mikijiro Hira, Sword of the Beast), who pushes her into a life of prostitution. When his sleazy superiors catch sight of her, she finds herself trapped inside the gaudy maze of city nightlife.

Directed by Noburo Nakamura, a veteran of the Shochiku studio's signature Golden Age family dramas, The Shape of Night was made as a reaction to the radical film styles of the Japanese New Wave. With its lush cinematography full of saturated colors, a lyrical tone and its story of love leading to inescapable tragedy, it has been compared to the films of Douglas Sirk, while also acting as a precursor to the work of Wong Kar-wai.

Media

Bonus Materials

• SPECIAL FEATURES:
• High-Definition digital transfer
• Uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New interview with Yoshio Nakamura, son of director Noboru Nakamura (2024, 16 mins)
• Major Changes - a visual essay on the artistic upheavals at Shochiku studios during the 1960s by Tom Mes (2024, 13 mins)
• Easter Egg (2024, 5 mins)
• New and improved English subtitle translation

 

Cast & Crew

Actors:

•       Miyuki Kuwano
•       Mikijiro Hira
•       Bunta Sugawara
•       Keisuke Sonoi
•       Masuyo Iwamoto
•       Misako Tominaga
•       Isao Kimura
•       Yoshiko Hiromura
•       Emiko Kure
•       Akitake Kôno
•       Kôji Matsubara
•       Hideaki Nagai
•       Miyoko Nakamura
•       Yoshihide Satô
•       Noriko Sengoku
•       Hifumi Takaoka
•       Shinji Tanaka
•       Bonta Tokyo

Director: Noboru Nakamura

Additional Details

Label: Radiance

Genre: Cult

Language: Japanese

Run Time: 109 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 06/23/26

UPC: 760137213147