1961 ‘人間の條件 完結篇’ Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.
Tatsuya Nakadai Michiyo Aratama Tamao Nakamura Yūsuke Kawazu Chishū Ryū Taketoshi Naitô Kyōko Kishida Reiko Hitomi Keijirô Morozumi Koji Kiyomura Nobuo Kaneko Fujio Suga Tatsuya Ishiguro Kazuo Kitamura Toshio Takahara Akira Yamanouchi Hiroshi Nihon'yanagi Kôichi Hayashi Ko Mihashi Kichijirô Ueda Hideko Takamine Masahiko Naruse Kin Sugai Miyoko Nakamura Yoshie Minami Fumie Kitahara Gen'ya Nagai Hideo Fukuhara Kanji Ōsugi Show All…
Ningen no jôken III, The human condition III: A soldier's prayer, Barfuß durch die Hölle, 3. Teil: ...und dann kam das Ende, La condición humana: La plegaria del soldado, Guerra e Humanidade: Uma Prece de Soldado, I anthropini moira, Czlowieczy los III, La condition de l'homme: La prière du soldat, Удел человеческий 3, A Condição Humana - 3ª parte, The human condition Vol. III, 인간의 조건 3, Dola człowiecza III - Modlitwa żołnierza, 人间的条件(第五、六部), La condizione umana - Parte III - La preghiera del soldato, Barfuß durch die Hölle - 3. Teil: ...und dann kam das Ende, La condición Humana III: La plegaria del soldado, La Condition de l’homme III, תפילתו של חייל 3, 人間の條件, The Human Condition III, Guerra e Humanidade III: Uma Prece de Soldado, Barfota genom helvetet 3: En soldats bön, İnsan Manzaraları III, 人间的条件（第五、六部）
Japan
Netherlands
Japan
Netherlands
There’s a scene about 515 minutes into this nine and half hour movie where our protagonist, Kaji - having fully made the transition from manager of a Japanese prison labor camp to POW of a Soviet prison labor camp - comes before the Russian management of the camp to answer for his attempts at democratizing the POWs.
Kaji is, as far as he knows himself, a socialist. Many times throughout the six part filmic cycle he is referred to as a “Red”. At the very least he’s actively against the monarchical fascism of his own country, Japan, who he has been forced to go to war for. But here in the labor camp he has seen none of the class…
All things must end...
And so it goes without saying that we should not expect to come through this epic tale without the weight of existence bearing down upon us. Through Kaji we celebrate the stoic and prevailing strength of ideals, the resonance of a resilient conscience and voice for truth and compassion. Described by a Japanese villager as a ''Paragon of virtue'', Kaji's quest to reunite with his love Michiko is an all conquering force that echoes right past the films final frame.
This final chapter sees Kaji leading his remaining followers, and other Japanese soldiers he meets along the way through dense forest, fighting for survival against Russian troops and Chinese militia and avoiding enemy capture, ultimately leading…
The Human Condition I = Schindler's List
The Human Condition II = Full Metal Jacket
The Human Condition III = Saving Private Ryan, 1917, The Pianist
Watch the whole trilogy in one day, what a ride! what a day!
“I’ve come this far, it won’t be much longer”
The conclusion to Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition is a despairing finale entirely worthy of its position in the Letterboxd Top 10, bleakly depicting the consequences of all we’ve seen as the goodwill and optimism of Kaji in Part I develops past hardened realism into heartbreaking hopelessness. Between trekking through dejected landscapes and suffering in harsh labour camps, the limits of the human spirit are pushed to the point of total collapse; overwhelmed and deprived as the ever insurmountable stream of challenges finally consume the self - leading to perhaps the most anguishing, unforgettable movie ending I’ve ever seen. Kobayashi’s incredible skill and determination exhibited throughout this entire saga is really astounding; creating possibly the greatest, most accomplished epic film series of all time.
'I am still walking toward you. If you weren't waiting... I doubt I could continue another day.'
The Human Condition III is the hopeless odyssey of the heart freezing in the hopeful blizzard of love.
Kobayashi's epic saga of a man who embodies the endurance of the human spirit reaches its spiritual zenith and physical nadir in the third instalment. On the physical level, it is the story of an army deserter wading through enemy territory to reach home and see his wife. Kaji hastens through forests, plains, cornfields, villages, and prison camps, equally helped and hindered by the people drawn to the selfless warmth under his fiery-cold self-confidence. He brushes away the misfortunes happening to him along the way…
It comes to a point where he see his end, trying to hold on to his love for wife and returning back to her where she kisses him, tells him to shave his beard as she prepares food for him. Kaji, gets beaten as a worthless beggar and as a "Japanese devil" by the Chinese peasants, he begs for mercy as he holds onto to the dumpling he stole.
There is a harsh reality in changing a person life in the time of war. He has killed men trying to fight for his survival. It comes to the point where we stand on the belief of Kill or Get Killed. Tired by the war, lost in the Forrest with people…
“Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.”
― Homer, The Odyssey
His eyes pierce through the dense fog as it dances across the horizon
His steps, staggered, his breath, fleeting, his resolute, concrete
His feet sink deeper and deeper into the unrelenting snow
The howl of the wind calls for him at his back, but a face in the distance beckons him forward
The man is no longer a man
He is an apparition of time
A mere silhouette among the landscape
A phantom of the human condition
9.5 / 10
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Film #28 of the "Scavenger Hunt" Challenge!
Task #21 : A film you find in one of your letterboxd followers top 4 favorite films!
letterboxd.com/naughty/list/scavenger-hunt/
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When I started this trilogy it felt as if I had stepped in quicksand! I soon came to realize my impending demise would be a long ordeal! And just like Kaji my naivety would become its first casualty!
And very much Kaji I became that much wiser but ultimately beaten down with each blow! The futility of fighting against the endless wrongs was extremely demoralizing!
All of this was exasperated by Soldier's Prayer when we realized we were now up to our necks in quicksand and all hopes of escape had been shattered…
"There is trouble brewing" - Nitohei,
- Kobayashi: boxd.it/aNWeu
Desperation.
The whole nine and half hours is worth it...it's all worth it. This is fantastic and probably the best of the three because it ties together all of the themes from the first two and has it's own flair and additional elements that matter. Nakadai gives one of the all time great performances and Kobayashi is a god of directing.
The ending is haunting.
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer is the film which makes the trilogy what it is. The first half of this film is probably the best stretch in the series. Finally the human spirit has been truly broken and lives forever ruined. As our lead stumbles through a land of enemies, concepts like duty and honour no longer matter. He must make harsh decisions, now he has been toughened by war and placed in hell. So many people die in the journey of A Soldier's Prayer. This is a truly devastating work, a film of screams. Characters are lost in the world and in their soul. They are aware now that the old Japan has died or will die,…
Kobayashi just cemented himself in my mind as one of the greats. His mammoth near 10-hour magnum opus is without a doubt one of the biggest achievements in cinema history.
Despite its lengthy runtime, each entry in Kaji's journey is truly unique and mesmerizing, consistently offering increasingly thought-provoking philosophical questions throughout the entire trilogy. There aren't many characters that have a greater transformation than Kaji.
I'm not sure if this is comfortably the best installment in the trilogy, as No Greater Love could also be 5/5. However, this piece undeniably impacted me the most with its powerful conclusion to Kaji's journey. Tatsuya Nakadai's performance is an all-timer, having to transform both physically and psychologically. The film simply wouldn't be the…
