. Another tale of decadence and waning glory, this black comedy, with a screenplay by Kaneto Shindo, is a scathing depiction of greed and hypocrisy in a society racing headlong toward the "economic miracle"--that is, away from the pain of postwar poverty. Ayako Wakao in a virtuoso performance plays a beautiful, cold-as-ice accountant who preys on the essential weakness of a once-wealthy family, now subsisting on graft and the myth of their own importance. Mother and Father, consummate connivers, have replicated themselves in a son who embezzles funds from his boss (a second-rate impresario who intends to bring "Elvis Presley" to Japan), and a daughter who is the mistress of a best-selling pulp writer (who uses the family saga as pulp). The family's willingness to do almost anything to escape poverty provides the film with a Capraesque wackiness, especially since the ballet of internecine intrigues is staged almost entirely within the cramped quarters of the family flat. It, incidentally, is replete with all the Best Western trappings: fake Renoir, all manner of electrical gadgets, and a flush toilet. The Japan Society notes that Kawashima uses the music of Kyogen, a traditional comic form, to heighten the farcical tone of the film. But this savage satire on contemporary amorality replaces the wistfulness of You Can't Take It With You with the challenge: how much can you take?