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      Heroic Purgatory

      1970 1h 58m Drama Fantasy List
      Reviews 85% Audience Score 50+ Ratings An engineer's wife returns home with a lost teenager. A man posing as the teen's father tries to get her back, causing the engineer to recall his youth as a revolutionary. Read More Read Less

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      Heroic Purgatory

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member One of the most meticulously and artistically shot films I have ever seen. Unfortunately, just about every other aspect of this film is frustrating, underdeveloped, and convoluted. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member The past, present and future collide to present a colleidoscopic vision of a marriage through the nonlinear lens of love, politics, sex and family. Near the end characters ask the noted scientist an abundance of questions. His reply: "Please ask me a question I can answer." What is Heroic Purgatory? Existence. Throughout the film the camera continually gravitates upwards. At the end the characters are faced with death. Perhaps something awaits them above. Beautifully evocative and fantastically ambiguous. The ending is one of the most brilliant I've seen. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Maybe the most beautiful film ever made. Every shot is perfectly composed with Avant Garde Tendencies. The film is very complex with a nonlinear story that deals with themes of love, truth, validity of political action. So fucking good. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member It's willfully obtuse almost to the point of self-parody, like someone's mocking idea of what an "art film" is. The actors are stiff and distant, frequently staring off into space. I kind of liked it, but I was also frustrated by my confusion. However, I have to give points for style: the film is artfully composed, with characters often squeezed into the very corner of the frame, and lots of scenes blown out by blazing sunlight. Some interesting avant-garde music as well. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member haunting and very beautiful movie. every shot is beautifully framed and the story is very moody and meditative. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Hell if I know what this is about, but who cares when you've got such gorgeous cinematography. Not that the strange, nonlinear plot about rebels, betrayals, and a mystery girl isn't engaging in a befuddling way, but every thing on the screen is so damn beautiful that you hardly need to concern yourself with which character is dead or alive or who or when or what or how. This is pure cinema through and through. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Heroic Purgatory

      Heroic Purgatory (1970) Heroic Purgatory (1970) Heroic Purgatory (1970) Heroic Purgatory (1970) Heroic Purgatory (1970) Heroic Purgatory (1970) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis An engineer's wife returns home with a lost teenager. A man posing as the teen's father tries to get her back, causing the engineer to recall his youth as a revolutionary.
      Director
      Yoshishige Yoshida
      Producer
      Yoshishige Yoshida, Sei Okamura
      Screenwriter
      Masahiro Yamada
      Production Co
      Art Theatre Guild
      Genre
      Drama, Fantasy
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Dec 8, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 58m
      Sound Mix
      Mono
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