A corrupt businessman blackmails the lovelorn murderer Atsushi into watching over his suitcase full of embezzled cash while he goes to jail. Rather than wait for the man to retrieve his money, Atsushi decides to spend it all in one libidinous rush—fully expecting to be tracked down and killed after.

Even decades before In the Realm of the Senses, Ôshima was a lightning-rod for controversy. Always tempted to tackle the taboo and transgressive, his work during the 1960s was that of a dynamo livewire, breaking away from his work with studios to craft this thrilling allegory on post-war Japan.