Yoshida used the then-controversial topic of artificial insemination to explore the steady erosion of a seemingly "normal" middle-age couple and the widening gulf that inexplicably grows between them. Mariko Okada powerfully conveys the confusion of a woman whose belief that she is incapable of love leads her on a troubled search to restore her emotions. Among the lesser known of the Yoshida-Okada collaborations, Flame of Feeling is one of their most richly allegorical and alluringly stylish "anti-melodramas."