Paroled from prison after serving eight years for butchering his unfaithful wife and her lover, Takuro Yamashita (Kôji Yakusho) tries to begin anew in this pensive drama directed by Shohei Imamura. Setting up a barbershop in a coastal fishing village, the unsociable Takuro has only his pet eel for companionship until he saves beautiful Keiko Hattori (Misa Shimizu) -- who resembles his dead spouse -- from a suicide attempt.