The noted Japanese critic Tadao Sato defined the shinpa tragedy, a staple of Japanese dramaturgy, as "the grand display of the ego or will of a woman who endures her fate in tears." An example of the genre, this film stars Kakuko Mori as Otoku, the lowly wet-nurse of a powerful family of kabuki actors. One of the members of the family, Kikunosuke Onoue (Shôtarô Hanyagi), comes to realize that his acting is praised only because of his influential connections, while other actors complain of his incompetence behind his back. When Otoku and the despondent actor begin to see each other, his father forbids the relationship, due to her low status, but Kikunosuke is in love with the wet-nurse and willing to accept banishment from his family. Realizing that her new husband is talented but undisciplined, Otoku suggests that the couple leave Tokyo, so that Kikunosuke can continue to train in the kabuki tradition far from the reach of his family's influence. Director Kenji Mizoguchi deploys his typical distancing techniques to extract the sentimentality from this exceptionally moving story, which is perhaps his most complete development of one of his favorite themes: a woman who sacrifices everything for the gifted man she loves.