A man doomed by his own sperm in the most dysfunctional family power struggle ever committed to film.
Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give them an heiress for the family business, he stands by helplessly as his wife is thrown out of the house for producing a son. Driven to a life of dissipation - his mistresses also fail to produce daughters - in the end he is just too tired to care.
Acting
Raizō Ichikawa's magnificent spiral from hope to hollow.
Direction
Ichikawa's surgical precision in domestic warfare.
Production
Claustrophobic Osaka interiors that breathe oppression.
Director
Kon Ichikawa
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
JP
