"Basically the simple story of a mother and her illegitimate son covering the years 1940 to 1959, the film's time element has been convoluted by Kinoshita so that, as it subtly crisscrosses between present and past, he creates patterns of repetition which add depth to the proceedings. Some historical facts not overtly explained in the film: because the father killed himself during wartime, rather than die for his country, his death is considered shameful, and because originally a double suicide was planned, the mother must bear culpability for not dying; also, the family is made poor after the war due to the Land Reform Act of 1946, which gave tenant-farmed land over to the tenants, destroying many absentee landlords...." --Alan Poul, Japan Society