“This film by Toyoda depicts the hard life of an unmarried mother in Tokyo. Umeko (Machiko Kyo), at 36, is working in a bar, struggling valiantly to keep her family together. Her 17-year-old daughter Takeko becomes increasingly upset by her mother's constant drinking and yakuza boyfriend, and runs away from home. Kyo's performance was highly praised.” --Alan Poul, Japan Society.
Shiro Toyoda (1906-1977) began as an assistant to Kinoshita, and went on to become one of Japan's leading directors, and a major figure in the junbungaku movement of filmic adaptations of literary works (including his adaptation of Kawabata's “Snow Country” in 1957). In “The Japanese Film,” Donald Richie and Joseph L. Anderson consider Toyoda's concern for the art of acting to be a major strength of his film style. Dispensing with pre-production rehearsals, Toyoda relied heavily on the actor's imagination in creating a character. “In this way he creates the feeling of spontaneity which he requires.... He reveals character by making his actors show what they feel...his constant goal is rendering visible the psychology of his characters. Thus his films are filled with purely visual revelations of character.”