(1959-1961) Manchuria, WWII: well-meaning labor boss Tatsuya Nakadai tentatively tries humane methods in a raging barbed wire world of oppressed workers, cruel Army superiors, and starved Chinese POWs; then experiences the jaw-breaking brutality of Imperial Army life (experienced first-hand by director Kobayashi, who served six years in the ranks, refusing promotion) and must pit rifle fire against Russian tanks; and finally, discovering the true face of “socialism” from Soviet jailors, makes a desperate break for it. Scathing, three-part exposé of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and of the dehumanization of the individual in war, with Nakadai’s breakthrough performance, as he moves from indecisive would-be liberal to rock-hard leader of men, but so subtly that his character remains consistent throughout. (He actually made other films in between episodes, among them Yojimbo and Sanjuro; while playing cards round the clock with Kobayashi, in order to achieve the right degree of haggardness for the final sequences.) Once listed in Guinness as the longest movie ever made, with dazzling b&w Scope photography (by Yoshio Miyajima, D.P. of Kwaidan, Harakiri, etc.), featuring the greatest cloudscapes on screen, and an enormous supporting cast that’s practically a Japanese movie Who’s Who — from Seven Samurai’s woodchopping Minoru Chiaki (going mouth-foamingly nuts in his foxhole), to Tora! Tora! Tora!’s So Yamamura beheading prisoners, to Ozu legend Chishu Ryu (Tokyo Story) and super-star Hideko Takamine as Chinese peasants — The Human Condition was the dream project and masterpiece of Japan’s titan of socially critical cinema, Masaki Kobayashi. And, it is, thanks to his narrative expertise, tremendously absorbing — every minute of its almost-10-hour running time. Each part can easily stand on its own; all-night screenings in Japan of the complete work have drawn overflow crowds. “An epic, or the word has no meaning. . . awesome in ambition and achievement” – David Shipman. “A masterpiece, one of the cinema’s handful of truly great productions . . .The hero seems the embodiment of the world’s conscience.” – Derek Hill. “Nakadai had a quality, an ability to characterize the sensibilities of two strikingly different generations. When I made The Human Condition, most actors at that time were either of the prewar or midwar generation. I was looking for a person who could convey the feeling of the new generation. Nakadai was able to combine his traditional shingeki background with the fresh innocence and energy of our postwar generation. He could thus effectively represent both pre- and postwar people.” – Kobayashi.
A JANUS FILMS RELEASE.