AllMovie

In this unexciting, predictable mystery story, Detective Tajima (Tsunehiko Watase) has dogged the riddle of a homeless man's murder for almost 40 years, and in the opening scene, he meaningfully hands over the manuscript of this and other cases to Kenzo, a local printer (Mikijiro Hira). From that point onward, flashbacks show that a prostitute named Hana (Yuko Tanaka) was suspected in the murder of the vagabond, and that Detective Tajima and the printer Kenzo seem to have had an ongoing relationship for some time. The young Kenzo ran away from home at one point and met both the murder victim and the prostitute. In spite of severe cross-examination, the boy refuses to say anything relating to the murder or the prostitute -- presumably out of a desire to protect her since she was especially kind to him -- more a good friend than a casual acquaintance. As the truth of the matter comes forward, the 15-year statute of limitations leaves the real murderer scot free -- further undermining the already diminished drama of the story. Yuko Tanaka won the "Best Actress" award at the 1983 Montreal Film Festival for her interpretation of Hana.