The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (Ningen no jôken)
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Written by Zenzo Matsuyama and Masaki Kobayashi from a novel by Jumpei Gomikawa
1959/Japan
Ninjin Club/Shochiku Eiga
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental[box] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. King James Bible, John 15:13[/box]
Director Kobayashi proves that the hell of war is not confined to combat.
This is the first part of a nine-hour three-part film dealing with the wartime career of Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai), a pacifist and humanist. Kaji has written a paper on how to increase production in Manchuria. He has been dreading the draft, both because of his principles and his love for Michiko. Instead, he is given an assignment to the labor department of a Manchurian mine that comes with a draft exemption. He and Michiko marry and depart for the dreary, isolated mine site.
The mine is run by the Japanese using what is essentially Chinese forced labor. Kaji’s thesis is that productivity can be increased and absenteeism decreased by treating the workers better. His boss allows him to try this experiment and Kaji earns the intense hatred of the Japanese mine foremen.
Kaji’s life takes a turn for the worse when the military delivers 600 POWs and he is put in charge of them. These arrive in half-dead in freight cars. The military’s number one demand is that not one be allowed to escape. Otherwise, the men are entirely expendable.
He continues his quest to treat the prisoners as human beings. The prisoners take advantage of this by continually escaping through the connivance of some greedy Japanese and a trusted Chinese assistant. Kaji will be lucky to escape the situation with his life.
The Human Condition I is a beautifully shot and entirely grim movie. The inherent contradiction in attempting to be humane while participating fully in a system of forced labor is acknowledged and explored. It’s a fine film but not one that I will revisit anytime soon. Part II will be coming up when I have the strength for three more hours of suffering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpkKFLC2zvA
Trailer
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