Masaki Kobayashi's first major film. Its political subject matter was considered controversial at the time it was made, and Kobayashi was asked to make severe cuts and alterations. He opted instead to shelve it, and the film was released unaltered four years later. During those four years he mostly made innocuous domestic dramas, before returning to more politically-charged filmmaking with La Condition de l'homme 1 - Il n'y a pas de plus grand amour (1959).
Final film of Eiko Takamatsu.