This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji—played by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai—from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of Japan’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.
Details by Film
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
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The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
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The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
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Supplements
- Excerpt from a 1993 Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda
- Interview from 2009 with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition from 2009 featuring Masahiro Shinoda
- Trailers
- An insert featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp