"A superbly wistful rendering of Fumiko Hayashi's low-life characters to the screen, this project was chosen by Naruse himself and greatly enhanced by the coincidence of Hideko Takamine having a contract with Daiei at the same time. She plays the upright and ambitious daughter to a mother who has given her three other siblings, all by different fathers, and all wallowing in a kind of resentful dependence on each other. Naruse delineates each one of the different characters with sharp ease, and creates the full suffocation of the atmosphere Kiyoko must leave. This film is perhaps his most thorough appraisal of the look, feel and mentality of the lower-middle class 'downtown' area, contrasted with the more antiseptic naiveté of the Yama-no-te suburbs (to which Kiyoko escapes)." Audie Bock