His cult, Heaven's Path, has its fingers in several rice bowls, including a huge land scheme involving political graft. Ryoko is on the case, trying to prove that Onizawa is not paying his fair share of taxes, but she gets herself in trouble by working outside the rules.

Itami's habit of following the lives of several characters shows itself to good advantage in this film. His use of visual symbolism also seems stronger and more accomplished. For example, Onizawa has recurring dreams of a sheer rock wall crumbling down on top of him. This image alone helps us to feel his terror and serves to make him a more sympathetic character even though he does some very unsympathetic things.

Unfortunately, Miyamoto's character seems almost incidental to this story. Itami, as usual, introduces her in the first scene and then forgets about her until the end of Act I. It's the tremendous performance of Rentaro Mikuni and the insightful look into the problem of corruption in Japan that makes this film worth viewing. --Luanne Brown