Insect Woman

The Insect Woman is a 1963 film directed by Japanese director Shōhei Imamura.

Imamura's film is about a woman, Tome, born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The film is a metaphor for life in Japan through the middle twentieth century, including World War II. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying trying to change her poor life.

Tome is molested from childhood by her stepfather. As a young adult she moves from her rural village to find work in factory, where she engages in an affair with her boss. She works later as a maid, and then as a prostitute.