Noboru Asahi

Un soir, en rentrant chez lui après le travail, l'employé de bureau Jun découvre sa femme Chie étendue sur le sol, du sang aux lèvres. Évidemment choqué par la scène, il découvre vite que le sang n'est que de la sauce tomate et que Chie fait semblant d'être morte. Dès lors, et sans lui dire pourquoi, Chie met en scène sa mort tous les jours.

"Around the time he made such remarkably ambivalent war films as Mud and Soldiers and Five Scouts, Tasaka directed this 'home front' comedy-drama which is too bizarre to be serious propaganda. [The plot revolves around a public contribution campaign to buy airplanes.] The mayor's aviator son promises to fly over the village in salute, and much of the narrative concerns the preparations for this great event. Tasaka throws in a few songs, some village humor and satire, and tremendous camera mobility, finally wringing every possible effect from his climax." John Gillett, British Film Institute