Father, avenge me! A terrible tragedy occurred in the Kawase family. The only son, a capable guy, who had so many plans for the future (starting his own company, getting married), was killed by some scumbag. He was killed completely by accident! It so happened that any passerby could become a victim, because the killer did not care who exactly he would kill - as long as someone was caught. Unfortunately, circumstances led Kawase Jr. to where he was fatally stabbed.
The life of the head of the Kawase family lost all meaning, but in this world, he was still held back: the son, before taking his last breath, asked his father to avenge his death. But how was he supposed to get revenge? Should retribution be done on the principle of Talion – “an eye for an eye”, “tooth for a tooth”?
Meanwhile, Kawase met other victims. Not only were there many as unfortunate as Kawase himself, he also found that many victims suffered from crimes not only morally and mentally, because one of their loved ones became an innocent victim of the killer, but also financially, because many families were left without breadwinners, and the killers often could not pay compensation, besides, the state did not provide any assistance to victims of crimes. Kawase came to understand how he should avenge the death of his son, although this can hardly be called “revenge”, because all this was aimed at obtaining material assistance from the state to families who were victims of crimes.
After reading some literature on crime in Japan, including Kan Ueda’s book Crime and Criminology in Modern Japan, I came to the conclusion that before and at the time of the release of this film, the problem of the institution of state compensation for victims of crime in Japan was especially acute, and, indeed, in 1973, the Society for the introduction of such an institution was organized.
The director showed us how sincerely the main character strived for the state to remember that the Japanese people are taxpayers who leave part of their income in the treasury, so the state is simply obliged to help its citizens who are in trouble. Kawase devoted all his strength to seeking justice in his country, and through this struggle his life acquired a sacred meaning. But the main thing is that these efforts were not in vain, because in 1981 (after 2 years as the film was released!) in Japan, the law on monetary payments to victims of crime really came into force.