The Challenge

Journalist Kuroki is investigating clandestine arms sales to Southeast Asia. He discovers that the point man in an arms trade was also involved in the cover-up of a murder on an American base during the Allied Occupation. The film rolls along as a suspenseful thriller while offering a critique of political corruption, hypocrisy, and journalistic cowardice in postwar Japan.

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Cast: Koji Tsuruta, Tatsuo Umemiya, Mayumi Ozora, Hitomi Nakahara, Tetsuro Tamba, Eitarō Ozawa, Yūko Kusunoki, Kappei Matsumoto

Audience-only score — full critic data not yet in the ReelXO vault.