Imamura’s jazz-inflected war comedy follows a zealous country doctor on a mission to combat hepatitis as a deadly outbreak threatens to overwhelm his seaside town in 1945. Tracking a single man’s winding odyssey, this penultimate feature—initially intended to be the director's swan song—is full of brilliant narrative deviations. It stands as a testament to Imamura's ability to constantly expand the boundaries of his characteristically complex and chaotic cinematic vision.