Heroic Purgatory

Plot

Rikiya Shoda is an engineer working for the Atomic Agency in Japan after spending a few years studying at the MIT. He's working on a new project involving the creation of laser beams. One day, his wife Nanako, comes back home with a lost teenager called Ayu. A man, who pretends to be Ayu's father, come to get her back but Ayu keeps telling him that Rikiya and Nanako are her parents. With this girl entering their peaceful life, Rikiya suddenly begins to remember his youth, when he was a revolutionary.

Why watch

Rikiya Shoda, an engineer at the Atomic Agency, finds his tranquil life disrupted when a lost teenager named Ayu enters his home, claiming him and his wife Nanako as her parents. As Rikiya grapples with this unexpected intrusion, memories of his revolutionary youth resurface, intertwining his past with the present. Watching this film is like wandering through a dreamscape where the boundaries of time blur, inviting reflection on the choices that shape our identities.

Talking points

• the impact of technology on personal identity
• the nature of memory and its influence on the present
• the role of family in shaping one's sense of self
• the intersection of personal and political histories

Cultural context

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