Shinko falls in love with a young man, Shuzaku, during World War II. She remains faithful to him despite his debauched life. While Shuzaku becomes more and more cynical and caustic as time goes by, Shinko keeps having faith in him and their love. For seventeen years she patiently waits for Shuzaku to commit himself even while he lives with another woman.
Shinko suggests to Shuzaku to perform “shinju”, the traditional form of suicide for lovers, but he refuses saying that it is an archaic ritual. To prove some sort of ideal remains even when faced with defeat, Shinko cuts her wrist and sacrifices herself for an unworthy man. She dies under the very eyes of her lover by a river in spring
One of the major films of theJapanese new wave.
