The Insect woman (Nippon konchuki)

Imamura was deeply concerned with the nature of what it means to be Japanese and he went about exploring that question by digging beneath the surface of Japanese Society to disclose a wellspring of sensual, often irrational, energy that lies beneath.

It tells the difficult life of Tome Matsuki (Sachiko Hidari) ,someone who doesn't know her real father, whose struggle for survival is compared to an ant. It begins in 1918 and covers 45 years of Tome's life, a time both she and the country undergo profound changes. Tome is molested from childhood by her stepfather Chuji. Her mom mocks the morally ignorant Tome for sleeping with her stepfather. As a young woman, she moves from her rural village to find work in a factory ,where she engages in an affair with her boss.  She works later as a maid and then as a prostitute.

She survives decades of Japanese social upheaval, as well as abuse and subjugation at the hands of various men. Yet the director , refuses to make a victim of her ,instead observing Tome as a fascinating , pragmatic creature of post-war Japan. The title refers to the way an insect's behavior is determined simply by the need for survival, acting by instinct alone and unaffected by love or moral . The personal problems of her are related to Japan's problems in the modern world and of the shame of losing the war and becoming dependent on America to get back on it's feet. At the end of the film, her grandchild is about to be born to the same circumstances as she was, thus the cycle continues itself to another generation.