Though based on the 146th Akutagawa Prize winning novel by Shinya Tanaka, this film is also in line with the Aoyama Shinji’s previous works in the sense that it deals with irresistible fate. The parents of teenage Toma are separated. His father lives with a young mistress and his mother lives alone selling fish. On his 17th birthday, he sleeps with his girlfriend and realizes he is very much like his violent father. He realizes he has a sadistic tendency while sneaking a look at his father having sex. His mother warns him about his bad blood from his father but he cannot stop what his nature forcefully tells. Toma’s real tragedy begins when his father’s mistress gets pregnant and leaves. His father tries to find her but ends up beating Toma’s girlfriend. Toma goes looking for his father for revenge but his mother stops him, though she cannot stop her own violent response. The family’s cruel ending looks as tragic as it could be in the desolate atmosphere of the town. The irresistible genetic heritage is too harsh to call a ‘life’, and it keeps choking the family over and over again. (LEE Sangyong)