Chiezô Kataoka is writing a play about the legendary Yakuza Mori no Ishimatsu. He's upset when his producer, Takashi Shimura, insists he rewrite the ending so Ishimatsu doesn't die; everyone know Ishimatsu died when Yakuza from another gang killed in in revenge. His secretary, Yukiko Todoroki, suggests that producers know best. When Kataoka explodes at her, she exits post haste. Whereupon Kataoka has a dream in which he is Ishimatsu, Miss Todoroki is his fiancee, and he knows exactly what fate is in store for him.... and he cannot avoid it.
It's actually a solid comedy with a tragic underpinning. This sort of fantasy, in which an author finds himself playing a role in his own was not unknown at the time; I first encountered it in L. Ron Hubbard's TYPEWRITER IN THE SKY. Writer Hideo Oguni has crafted a nicely balanced script, and director Masahiro Makino brings out the essential absurdity of the situation in a handsome fashion.
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