Eager to cut ties with his past and poor upbringing, Seiichi, a medical student, aims at being adopted by an upper-class family.

Eventually, Seiichi's plan fulfils, while Utako, who claims that she can't lead a normal relationship after being raped by a cousin as a child, evokes a marital crisis.

[8] Noël Burch saw the film as a sociological depiction of the breakdown of traditional social attitudes towards duty and gratitude for one's parents (gimu).

[9] Another writer argued that one reason why the children don't feel gratitude for their mother and reject her is because they see her turn to prostitution as a choice and not (correctly) as the product of economic necessity; this is due to the new discourse of female emancipation of the post-war culture, under the influence of American liberalism.

[8] Isolde Standish points out that the newsreels give credence to the "subjective memories" of the characters that are shown in the film's flashback scenes.

[10] For example, newsreel footage of American soldiers cavorting with Japanese women foreshadow a flashback scene depicting Haruko's decision to become a prostitute.