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This well-known film by auteur director Nagisa Oshima offers a humorous and trenchant commentary on trends in Japanese society. Looking through the eyes of a younger son in a lesser branch of an important Japanese family, we see simultaneously the boy's history, the family's history and the history of Japan. This is done by showing important family ceremonies over the years: anniversaries, weddings, funerals, etc. Various factions in the family, which reflect the factions in Japanese society, struggle for superiority. Viewers of this film will find their enjoyment enriched if they have some knowledge of recent Japanese history .