“When Hikokuro, vassal to the Lord of Tottori, returns home from the year's enforced residence in Edo, he is troubled by rumors that his wife, Otane, has committed adultery with a visiting drum teacher. Otane had been acquitted by a family council, but the truth relentlessly pursues Hikokuro, and leaves him with no alternative: Otane must die, the family must carry out an official vendetta.
“(17th-century playwright) Chikamatsu's version of an actual incident of adultery within the samurai class is a treatise on personal inadequacy in dealing with the rigors of a moral code that does not recognize mitigating circumstances. (Director Tadashi) Imai's (1958) treatment...using (screenwriter) Hashimoto's flashback narrative construction, greatly expanded and liberally interpreted the play. The result is a somewhat manipulated plot which emphasizes the family's collusion with the feudal system to bring the guilty party to justice in order to protect itself. Imai's Night Drum...is a concerted effort to condemn the family as the source, rather than as the victims, of the oppressive system....” --Sybil Thornton