The Human Condition
Masaki Kobayashi’s mammoth humanist drama is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three parts, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition (Ningen no joken), adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji (handsome Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet POW. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of its nation’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.
Special Features
FOUR-DISC SPECIAL EDITION:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Excerpt from a rare Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide)
- New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Video appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition featuring Shinoda
- Japanese theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp
New cover design by Sarah Habibi, calligraphy by Akiko Crowther
Special Features
FOUR-DISC SPECIAL EDITION:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Excerpt from a rare Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide)
- New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Video appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition featuring Shinoda
- Japanese theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp
New cover design by Sarah Habibi, calligraphy by Akiko Crowther
Cast
- Tatsuya Nakadai
- Kaji
- Michiyo Aratama
- Michiko (Parts 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6)
- Chikage Awashima
- Jin Tung Fu (Parts 1 and 2)
- Ineko Arima
- Yang Chun Lan (Parts 1 and 2)
- Keiji Sada
- Kageyama (Parts 1 and 4)
- So Yamamura
- Okishima (Parts 1 and 2)
- Akira Ishihama
- Chen (Parts 1 and 2)
- Shinji Nambara
- Kao (Parts 1 and 2)
- Seiji Miyaguchi
- Wang Heng Li (Parts 1 and 2)
- Toru Abe
- Sergeant Watai (Parts 1 and 2)
- Masao Mishima
- Manager Kuroki (Parts 1 and 2)
- Eitaro Ozawa
- Okazaki (Parts 1 and 2)
- Koji Mitsui
- Furuya (Parts 1 and 2)
- Akitake Kono
- Captain Kono (Parts 1 and 2)
- Nobuo Nakamura
- Head Office Chief (Parts 1 and 2)
- Kyu Sazanka
- Cho Meisan (Parts 1 and 2)
- Kokinji Katsura
- Sasa (Part 3)
- Jun Tatara
- Hino (Part 3)
- Michio Minami
- Yoshida (Part 3)
- Kei Sato
- Shinjo (Part 3)
- Kunie Tanaka
- Obara (Part 3)
- Taketoshi Naito
- Tange (Part 3, 5, and 6)
- Yusuke Kawazu
- Terada (Parts 4, 5, and 6)
- Susumu Fujita
- Naruto (Part 4)
- Minoru Chiaki
- Onodera (Part 4)
- Shoji Yasui
- Officer aspirant (Part 4)
- Fumio Watanabe
- Staff officer (Part 4)
- Tamao Nakamura
- Refugee (Part 5)
- Chishu Ryu
- Old man in refugee camp (Part 6)
- Hideko Takamine
- Old woman in refugee camp (Part 6)
- Kyoko Kishida
- Tatsuko (Part 5)
- Reiko Hitomi
- Umeko (Part 5)
- Keijiro Morozumi
- Hironaka (Part 5)
- Koji Kiyomura
- Hikida (Part 5)
- Nobuo Kaneko
- Kirihara (Part 5 and 6)
- Ed Keene
- Russian officer (Part 6)
- Ronald Self
- Chabayev (Part 6)
Credits
- Director
- Masaki Kobayashi
- Producer
- Shigeru Wakatsuki
- Screenplay
- Zenzo Matsuyama
- Screenplay
- Masaki Kobayashi
- Based on the novel by
- Jumpei Gomikawa
- Production managers
- Tatsuo Osawa
- Production managers
- Zempei Moriyama
- Cinematography
- Yoshio Miyajima
- Lighting
- Takashi Kato
- Lighting
- Akira Aomatsu
- Editing
- Keiichi Uraoka
- Music
- Chuji Kinoshita
- Sound
- Hideo Nishizaki
- Art direction
- Kazue Hirataka
