Sokichi and his wife Oume run a small printing business. One evening, Sokichi’s mistress turns up at their house with the three young children he fathered, demanding money before disappearing into the night…
By filming human cruelty with detachment, Nomura manages even more effectively not only to have us reflect on the subject, but also to direct one of his best films. Here the demon is a poignant and pathetic father, which is precisely what we find lastingly disconcerting. JB