Masaki Kobayashi’s six-part adaptation of the book by Jumpei Gomikawa may be the most ambitious, most truthful film about the big-picture reality of war. Idealist Tatsuya Nakadai thinks he can avoid complicity in human evil by volunteering as a civilian to manage a work camp in occupied Manchuria, only to find that he’s expected to starve and torture Chinese slave laborers. Resistance leads to his conscription in a brutal boot camp, and his deployment on the Northern front as the Russians invade leads to an extended struggle to survive amid mounting horrors. There’s no escape: the ‘human condition’ is that barbarity is a given, a constant. It’s nine hours of suffering that can change one’s world view.
The Human Condition
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 480
1959-61 / B&w / 2:39 anamorphic widescreen / 575 min. / Ningen no jôken / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 8, 2021 / 59.95
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai,...
The Human Condition
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 480
1959-61 / B&w / 2:39 anamorphic widescreen / 575 min. / Ningen no jôken / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 8, 2021 / 59.95
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai,...
- 6/29/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The trilogy is based on the six-volume, autobiographical novel by Junpei Gomikawa, published from 1956 to 1958. It is considered one of the masterpieces of world cinema and established Masaki Kobayashi as one of the most important directors of the “Golden Age” of Japanese cinema.
A true odyssey.
The film follows the Sisyphean life of Kaji, a pacifist and socialist who finds himself repeatedly crushed by the totalitarian Japanese regime of the World War II era, as he tries to avoid becoming an actual soldier.
His odyssey starts from a Manchurian Pow camp, where he tries to bring justice to the Chinese Pow’s, who suffer miserably in the hands of the Japanese authorities. His superiors fight him at every step, as he deals with corruption and the inhumanity of the army.
Next, he is sent to the front, where he is placed in charge of the new recruits. Here, his main opponent is the veterans,...
A true odyssey.
The film follows the Sisyphean life of Kaji, a pacifist and socialist who finds himself repeatedly crushed by the totalitarian Japanese regime of the World War II era, as he tries to avoid becoming an actual soldier.
His odyssey starts from a Manchurian Pow camp, where he tries to bring justice to the Chinese Pow’s, who suffer miserably in the hands of the Japanese authorities. His superiors fight him at every step, as he deals with corruption and the inhumanity of the army.
Next, he is sent to the front, where he is placed in charge of the new recruits. Here, his main opponent is the veterans,...
- 10/4/2016
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Want a nine-hour dose of the truth of existence so harrowing that it will make you feel grateful no matter how humble your situation? Masaki Kobayshi's epic of the real cost of war boggles the mind with its creeping revelations of cosmic bleakness. Yet all the way through you know you're experiencing a truth far beyond slogans and sentiments. The Human Condition Region B Blu-ray Arrow Academy (UK) 1959-61 / B&W / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 574 min. / Ningen no jôken / Street Date September 19, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £ 39.99 Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima, Keiji Sada, So Yamamura, Kunie Tanaka, Kei Sato, Chishu Ryu, Taketoshi Naito. Cinematography Yoshio Miyajima Art Direction Kazue Hirataka <Film Editor Keiichi Uraoka Original Music Chuji Kinoshita Written by Zenzo Matsuyama, Masaki Kobayashi from the novel by Jumpei Gomikawa Produced by Shigeru Wakatsuki Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The first Blu-ray of perhaps...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The first Blu-ray of perhaps...
- 9/27/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sad news everyone. Last Sunday, May 2nd, the acclaimed Japanese actor, Kei Sato, star of many a Criterion release, passed away from complications with pneumonia. A big thanks to the folks over at Toronto J-Film Pow-wow for alerting us to his passing.
Next Tuesday, May 18th, Criterion will be releasing their next Eclipse Box Set, of Nagisa Oshima’s “Outlaw Sixties.” Sato will be featured in two of the titles in the box set, Violence at Noon and Japanese Summer: Double Suicide.
I’ve listed several of the other Criterion titles that Sato starred in, including the incredible Sword of Doom from Kihachi Okamoto. You can hear our discussion of the film from January, when we were joined by Devindra Hardawar of Slashfilm and The Symbiotek Podcast.
I’m linking the cover art to the various Netflix pages for each title, and linking the film’s titles with their respective Criterion Collection pages.
Next Tuesday, May 18th, Criterion will be releasing their next Eclipse Box Set, of Nagisa Oshima’s “Outlaw Sixties.” Sato will be featured in two of the titles in the box set, Violence at Noon and Japanese Summer: Double Suicide.
I’ve listed several of the other Criterion titles that Sato starred in, including the incredible Sword of Doom from Kihachi Okamoto. You can hear our discussion of the film from January, when we were joined by Devindra Hardawar of Slashfilm and The Symbiotek Podcast.
I’m linking the cover art to the various Netflix pages for each title, and linking the film’s titles with their respective Criterion Collection pages.
- 5/10/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Masaki Kobayashi's six-part magnum opus, The Human Condition, based on Junpei Gomikawa's postwar novel, bears the imprint of Kobayashi's tutelage under legendary filmmaker Keisuke Kinoshita at Shochiku's Ofuna studio, a critical, introspective, and deeply personal account of wartime Japan framed from the perspective of an idealistic everyman (and Kobayashi's alterego), Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai). Opening to the ironic image of lovers Kaji and Michiko (Michiyo Aratama) meeting under an archway auspiciously called the Southern Gate of Peace in Manchuria as Imperial troops march in the street, Kobayashi presents an incisive image of 1930s Japanese society that is morally consumed—and ravaged—by increasingly extremist values of militarism, occupation, and nationalism.
- 11/11/2009
- MUBI
The Human Condition Trilogy No Greater Love (1959), The Road to Eternity (1959), A Soldier’s Prayer (1961) Direction: Masaki Kobayashi Screenplay: Zenzo Matsuyama and Masaki Kobayashi; from Jumpei Gomikawa’s novel Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama Michiyo Aratama, Tatsuya Nakadai in The Human Condition Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition, based on Jumpei Gomikawa’s novel, is probably as well known for its scope [...]...
- 10/15/2009
- by Dan Erdman
- Alt Film Guide
DVD Playhouse—September 2009
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
- 9/26/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
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