i would not hide this be a huge surprise for me because it be the first pre wwii japanese movie i ever lay eye on . and it confirm the fact that there be something a a japanese school of movie making with root in the past . first of all gion no shimai treat a bundle of theme in a very skilled manner and with a limited amount of time . the main theme be the conflict between two way of see the world which be deep root in the japan of that period and a country subject to many transformation represent the fight between loyalty to traditional value and personal interest . this fight be instantiate in the conflict between two sister and which for what i know about geisha be not actually sister but the old one help the young to become herself a geisha . the old sister be loyal to a man who support her in her youth and a shopkeeper who be now broke and help him on account of loyalty not because there be something in it for her . the young sister be appal both by the man who resort to geisha for help and by her sister behavior and very unsound in the insecure environment of the age when geisha with no patron have a hard time . what be even more interesting than the main theme be that mizoguchi chooses woman and geisha a representative woman of japan and as main character . he be for this matter ahead of his time and more ahead even of kurosawa year later and the latter always unable to present a compelling woman other than with over the top acting . the two actress here be exceptional at convey the drama of be trap in a man world where geisha be toy for men pleasure . they be unable to change their situation not because of personal fault but because the tension between old and new and between the traditional jpan and the emerge industrial jpana be not something they can control . the young sister opposition and departure from her sister be in the end pointless because she try to fight the war of a whole culture try to adapt in a new world . many thing can be see in this little gem and from the begin track shot fill with suspense to the outside take and especially those with the city by night .