The Human Condition - Kaji, a college graduate working in Manchuria during WWII, accepts a job offer to increase efficiency at a Japanese forced labor camp in return for exemption from military service. A pacifist and avowed socialist, Kaji attempts to implement his humanitarian ideals into the brutal working conditions faced by imprisoned Chinese POWs and civilians. Eventually, Kaji earns the contempt of his superiors and begins his long and painful journey of survival and self-discovery.
My entire Saturday was spent watching this movie (and I was baked as cake the whole time). It clocks in at over 9 1/2 hours (not including intermissions) and is divided into six chapters and each of those chapters are constructed in a typical 3-act manner, so essentially it's like watching 6 feature length films back-to-back (which means you don't have to watch the whole movie in one sitting, but I did because I rule). Going into the movie, I wasn't sure what to expect: I'm a fan of Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai (who plays Kaji) but his movies have a tendency to value artfulness over maintaining an engaging pace to the story, which made me nervous considering how long the damn thing is. Pretty much as soon as the first scene was established though, I knew that I was in for something good.
Kobayashi's camerawork is downright
masterful, some might even say "Kubrickian" (hell, this movie would make Stan the Man blush) - every single image of every single scene is a piece of art in and of itself, at times I had to pause the movie just to fully-absorb some of the shots Kobayashi managed to capture. I fully expected the movie to impress me with it's visuals but it really left me stunned at times.
My concerns about the story turned out to be unfounded - it was paced perfectly (imo). At no point did I find myself thinking "did he really need to include that?" or "What does this have to do with the story?" etc - all plot, no bullshit. That being said, the story is rough. Not that it's amateurish or unpolished (quite the opposite in fact), but it is bleak and it is depressing and it will leave you feeling emotionally drained. There are brief moments of levity however that are like tiny oases in a desert of sorrow. Through it all though, Kaji is as impressive as he is sympathetic and really makes you think he deserves to successfully navigate his troubles even though it seems hopeless and impossible. The film is actually an adaptation of the novel
Kaji, but I think what makes it so special is that the events of the novel are eerily similar to Masaki Kobayashi's (who himself was a pacifist and a socialist) own experience serving in Manchuria during the war.
I think the term "masterpiece" gets thrown around a lot, often times undeservedly, but I don't think there's any question that The Human Condition is a total masterpiece from start to finish. If you're at all interested in WWII (especially from the Japanese perspective) or if you love classic, stylish, and emotionally raw cinema, this is the movie you need to watch. See it over the course of a week or something: it's well fucking worth it. For over 9 1/2 hours I was in cinephile heaven.
I openly avoid saying shit like this, but I think it might just be my "favorite movie of all time" - I honestly can't think of anything else that even slightly compares.
