Heroic Purgatory

Rikiya Shoda is an engineer at a Japanese atomic agency whose quiet life is disrupted when his wife, Nanako, brings home a lost teenager named Ayu. While a man claiming to be the girl's father attempts to retrieve her, Ayu insists that Rikiya and Nanako are her actual parents. This strange encounter triggers a series of memories for Rikiya, leading him to recall his past as a revolutionary.

This drama was directed by Yoshishige Yoshida and is the fourth film in a chronological sequence of his work, following Blood Is Dry, Good-for-Nothing, and A Story Written with Water. The screenplay was written by Masahiro Yamada, and the film was produced by Yoshida and Sei Okamura through Art Theatre Guild and Gendai Eigasha. The ensemble cast includes Kaizo Kamoda as Rikiya Shoda, Mariko Okada as Nanako Shoda, Kaneko Iwasaki as Atsuko Saegusa, Toru Takeuchi as Yasuo Kiyoshi, Naho Kimura as Jyoko Shinjo, and Yoshiaki Makita as Shu Taya.

Released in 1970, the film has been received positively by audiences. It holds a rating of 7.1/10 on IMDb based on 919 votes and a 7/10 rating on TMDB from 39 votes.