May 09, 2016 Counting Kobayashi Masaki’s “Ningen no joken” (released as the trilogy “The Human Condition” in the West, as a tetraolgy in Japan) as one, there are three stunningly photographed and emotionally devastating late-1950s Japanese movies about the end of the war for soldiers at the edges that did make it to international audiences.
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love | The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity | The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
Shochiku- DVD-R is in Japanese with switchable English subtitles. See film sample for audio and video quality! THE HUMAN CONDITION II: ROAD TO ETERNITY (1959) In Road to Eternity, Kaji, having lost his exemption from military service by protecting Chinese prisoners from unjust punishment, has now been conscripted into the Kwantung Army.
- May 16, 2019 The first film, No Greater Love (1959), opens with Kaji marrying his sweetheart Michiko despite his misgivings about the future. The couple then move to a large mining operation in Japanese-colonized Manchuria, where Kaji is a labor supervisor assigned to a workforce of Chinese prisoners.
Featuring:Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Tamao Nakamura, Kokinji Katsura, Chikage Awashima, Yûsuke Kawazu, Jun Tatara, Ineko Arima, Michirô Minami, So Yamamura, Taketoshi Naito, Kei Sato, Akira Ishihama, Kyoko Kishida, Shinji Nambara, Kunie Tanaka, Chishu Ryu, Seiji Miyaguchi, Toru Abe, Masao Mishima
One of the towering masterpieces of Japanese and world cinema, this three-part war epic has rarely been seen in the UK, at least partly because of its dauntingly gargantuan nine hour length. Director Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri) was attracted to Junpei Gomikawa’s source novel because he recognised himself in the character of the protagonist Kaji, an ardent pacifist who came of age during the aggressively militaristic 1930s and 40s.
In part one, No Greater Love, Kaji is relocated to a mine-supervising job in Manchuria, where he is horrified by the use of forced labour. Part two, Road to Eternity, sees him conscripted into the Japanese army and forced to fight in the name of an aggressively imperialist cause. Part three, A Soldier’s Prayer, deals with the consequences of Japan’s defeat, not least for Kaji himself.
Throughout, Kobayashi unflinchingly examines the psychological toll of appallingly complex decisions, where being morally ‘right’ risks outcomes ranging from ostracism to savage beating to death. As Kaji, Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) is in virtually every scene, providing a rock-solid emotional anchor – and a necessary one in Japan, where the film was hugely controversial for being openly critical of the nation’s conduct during WWII. But it’s this willingness to confront national taboos head-on that makes it such a lastingly powerful experience.
In part one, No Greater Love, Kaji is relocated to a mine-supervising job in Manchuria, where he is horrified by the use of forced labour. Part two, Road to Eternity, sees him conscripted into the Japanese army and forced to fight in the name of an aggressively imperialist cause. Part three, A Soldier’s Prayer, deals with the consequences of Japan’s defeat, not least for Kaji himself.
Throughout, Kobayashi unflinchingly examines the psychological toll of appallingly complex decisions, where being morally ‘right’ risks outcomes ranging from ostracism to savage beating to death. As Kaji, Tatsuya Nakadai (Sanjuro) is in virtually every scene, providing a rock-solid emotional anchor – and a necessary one in Japan, where the film was hugely controversial for being openly critical of the nation’s conduct during WWII. But it’s this willingness to confront national taboos head-on that makes it such a lastingly powerful experience.
Technical Specifications
Format: Blu-ray/DVD
Audio: Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono , Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo , Japanese 2.0 PCM Mono , Japanese 2.0 PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English
Discs: 6 Discs | DVD-9/BD-50
Details by Film
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
Time: 208
2.35:1
Audio
Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
Japanese 2.0 PCM Stereo
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
Time: 181
2.35:1
Audio
Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
Japanese 2.0 PCM Stereo
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
Time: 190
2.35:1
Audio
Japanese 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
The Human Condition Trilogy Subtitles Torrent English
Japanese 2.0 PCM Stereo
Supplements
- '>Introduction to the film by critic Philip Kemp
- '>Selected-scene commentary by Philip Kemp
- '>Theatrical trailers
- '>Booklet with new writing on the film by David Desser
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