"Kameda" (Masayuki Mori) is a Japanese soldier suffering from what looks like a degree of PTSD after he only narrowly escaped a firing squad for a crime he did not commit in his country's war with Russia. His mental status is distinctly precarious when he heads home. Along the way he encounters the savvy "Akama" (an on-form Toshirô Mifune) who is also a man on a bit of a mission - to wed his sweetheart "Taeko" (Setsuko Hara) who has been the kept woman of an older man for many a year. She is effectively put up for sale, and her potential buyer is a man - "Kayama" (Minoru Chiaki) - who is associ...