Already famous before the war for his studies of women in such films as Naniwa Ereji (Naniwa Elegy,1936), Gion no Shimai (Sisters of the Gion,1936) and 1939's The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums. Kenji Mizoguchi (1898-1956) subsequently turned out Josei no Shori (Women's Victory) in 1946, a long-promised film about women fighting for and gaining professional posts with the law courts and Waga Koi wa Moeru (My Love Has Been Burning,1949). dealing with the part played by women in active politics.
The competence and strength of women is a subject that threads its way through many of Mizoguchi's films, chiefly those with a modern setting. Even his Five Women Around Utamaro (1946), the story of a famous artist set in feudal times, deals with the way in which women are exploited, and his most famous film of this period. Yoru no Onnatochi (Women of the Night,1948) is an unsentimental portrayal of the life of post-war prostitutes - a film largely instrumental in changing the laws that govern prostitution.