Murder, blackmail and bitterly ironic twists abound in this sleek noir set in postwar Japan. Self-assured banker Takita is on the verge of being promoted to the main office, but his years of cooking the books and exploiting his meek boyhood pal Nakaike are about to catch up with him. Economically crafted and expertly paced by Nikkatsu master Koreyoshi Kurahara, it’s a moody and profound psychological study of revenge that implicitly comments on the ethical shortcuts of corporate life.