“Nihon chinbotsu” (1973) is a gripping Japanese film about a catastrophic event that turns the lives of millions of people upside down. Under the direction of director Shiro Morita, the movie is a gripping journey through fear and hope as Japan faces an irreversible natural disaster – an earthquake and subsequent underground floods. Viewers are immersed in the lives of the characters as they struggle to survive in the face of the threat of destruction and the loss of everything they hold dear. The movie impresses not only with its visual beauty and dramatic scenes of disaster, but also with the characters’ inner struggles, their quest for survival and love for their loved ones. “Nihon chinbotsu” is not just a disaster movie, it is a story about the strength of the human spirit in the face of a natural disaster.