A drunken doctor with a hot temper works in a village whose most prominent geographical feature is a disease-ridden sump. Businesses and social life are infected by the yakuza, or mob. The leading gangster in the village comes to the doctor one night with a bullet lodged in his hand. It's clear this violence-prone young man also has tuberculosis. The doctor and gangster form a quicksilver bond that partly involves the older medical man keeping the young tough alive and well; but it is also marked by shouting, shoving, throwing punches and throwing nearby objects at each other. Meanwhile, the old gang boss is back out of prison. He's eager to have his old turf back and eager to reestablish ties with his wife, whom he infected with venereal disease and who now works as an assistant to the doctor.—J. Spurlin