In a brilliant film that bears comparison to Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, two generations of brash, no-nonsense Imamurian women survive cataclysmic misfortunes and betrayals by relying on their "entomological" instincts for self-preservation at any cost. After the death of her lovers, the illegitimate Tome leaves her village to work in a brothel that she will eventually usurp from its madam. In time, Tome's own illegitimate daughter will grow to repeat this cycle… Imamura uses the grotesque to explode the sentimental connection between femininity and family values and to mock masculine pretensions of strength and reliability.