The Choice of Hercules

February 1972. Japanese police cordon off a mountain lodge in Nagano, where five members of a radical leftist group hold a housekeeper hostage. An operation planned for hours stretches into a ten-day siege of unprecedented scale. The camera impartially captures not only the tactical maneuvers of the special assault team but also the psychological strain on both sides of the barricade. Against a backdrop of snowy landscapes, this is more than a raid; it is a historical watershed moment that marked the end of an era of student radicalism in Japan.