Japan Synopsis
煉獄エロイカ
Rikiya Shoda is an engineer working for the Atomic Agency in Japan. One day, his wife Nanako returns home with a lost teenager called Ayu. A man, pretending to be the father, comes to get her back; Ayu keeps telling him that Rikiya and Nanako are her parents. Through this disruption, Rikiya suddenly starts remembering his youth as a revolutionary.
The 1969–1971 Japan Window
64 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Heroic Purgatory sits at position #21.
Other Titles From Art Theatre Guild
The 1970s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 1970s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Heroic Purgatory premiered. 197 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #2,194 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (52nd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #965 of 1,933 (top 50%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Art Theatre Guild, Gendai Eigasha |
| Runtime | 2h 1m |
| Release Date | September 26, 1970 |
| IMDb | tt0065834 |