Underplayed Gems

Challenge at Dawn (1971)

Challenge at Dawn poster
Original title
暁の挑戦
Directed by
Toshio Masuda
Genre
history
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 21m
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

This is a Japanese yakuza film from 1971 about a real violent dispute in the Taisho era. It shows gangsters fighting for control of a big construction project, while officials, workers, and local people push back against them.

historicalgrittytenseearthyseriousgroundedslow-burn

What happens

『暁の挑戦』（あかつきのちょうせん）は、1971年5月22日に松竹配給により公開された、舛田利雄監督のやくざ映画。フジテレビジョンの劇場映画製作第三回作品で、フジテレビと新国劇の共同製作。大正時代の鶴見騒擾事件を扱ったもので、大規模土木工事の利権を狙う暴力団と、それを排除せんとする行政、労働者、民衆の闘争を描いた。若林豪の映画デビュー作である。 上映後にフィルムが所在不明となり、長年《幻の映画》とされていたが、フジテレビが新社屋に引っ越す際に倉庫で発見され、修復を経て2014年に川崎市の映画館「チネチッタ」において上映会が行われた。 (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.