Watch The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer For Free

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The Human Condition (Ningen no jôken) is a 9,5 hour long epic film trilogy directed by Masaki Kobayashi, based on the six volume novel by Junpei Gomikawa. The trilogy stays true to the novel's composition by being divided into six parts, meaning that each of the three installments are split in two parts, in between which are intermissions. Both parts in the first film begin with the same opening credits sequence, showing us some stoneworks portraying dramatic imagery (the similar intro opens all three films). The three movies, each long 3 hours or more, are called No Greater Love, Road to Eternity and A Soldier's Prayer.Okay, now, I enjoyed the first film despite some historical inaccuracies. I liked the second movie but it didn't leave much of an impact on me. But this one, A Soldier's Prayer, is just brilliant.Unlike the first two films, ASP is much less repetitive and a lot more diverse stuff goes on. We follow Kaji on his long path to his wife Michiko. First he tries to flee the war zone accompanied by other soldiers and civilians, then they encounter Chinese forces, from which they escape through a burning wheat field. They stumble upon an encampment which gets besieged by the Soviets, after which Kaji ends up as a worker in a Red Army camp, mirroring his position in a Manchurian work camp from the first film. He escapes and meets his doom in a snowy outback, where he dies out of hunger or exhaustion.That's basically the plot, although a lot of other things happen and a lot of characters are introduced. Throughout the film, you feel 100% immersed in every obstacle Kaji faces and that feeling never lets up. Tatsuya Nakadai gives us one of the best, most believable performances I've ever come across (and I don't even think this is his best). Kobayashi: "When I made The Human Condition, most actors at that time were either of prewar or mid-war generations. I was looking for a person who could convey the feeling of the new generation. Nakadai was able to convey this new, strong, energetic side of postwar youth."Of course the supporting cast is great too, and there are even some big names accompanying the unknown portion of the cast. There's Kyoko Kishida as Ryuko, Chishu Ryu as the man in the encampment and Hideko Takamine as the unnamed woman who's also situated there.The cinematography is even better than in its two predecessors; some shots from this movie you'll remember for a long, long time - Kaji standing by a huge field with scavengers flying around, him being interrogated at the Soviet work camp HQ and finally getting stranded in the middle of nowhere for example. It's interesting to note that the first two films begin with a snowy scene, while the third movie ends with one.The trilogy doesn't take any sides as far as nations themselves are concerned and even portrays the Japanese military in an unbelievably negative light for the time it was released. It's an universal anti-war film that brilliantly concludes the trilogy. Kobayashi also argued against the militaristic system while he was in the army, which must be why he later said: "I am Kaji."Kobayashi: "I spent four years making The Human Condition. While making it, I received many letters from people requesting me not to let Kaji die in the end. I had considered that possibility, but to me, his death was actually a resurrection. He had to die there. With his death, he lives in the minds of people for a long time, as a symbol of the hope that we can eradicate the human tragedy of war."Kaji's beliefs are often challenged and inverted throughout the trilogy. According to the director, he said he wanted to portray the tragic dual nature that the Japanese people experienced back then.

The Japanese troops are defeated by the Soviets and Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) heads with three survivors to South Manchurian expecting to meet his wife. Along their crossing through the enemy line in the Manchurian land, other Japanese survivors join Kaji's group, but they need to fight against the Chinese militias and the Soviets.When they reach a Japanese village with women and one old man, a militia arrives in the place and Kaji and his men surrender to the Soviet to spare the women. The POWs are sent to a labor work camp and Kaji sees no difference between the treatment of the Japanese fascists and the Soviet communists, in which principles Kaji believed. He decides to escape from the camp to meet his beloved Michiko again."The Human Condition – Parts V & VI" is the last sequel of the heartbreaking anti-war masterpiece by Masaki Kobayashi. The story is impressively realistic and magnificently shot with top-notch camera work, giving the sensation of a documentary. I have seen many powerful movies about war, such as "Der Untergang", "Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo", "La Battaglia di Algeri", "Paths of Glory" and "Apocalypse Now" among others. But "The Human Condition" is certainly the most scathing antiwar movie that I have seen and I did not feel the 574 minutes running time in a black-and-white movie spoken in Japanese, Mandarin and Russian with English subtitles. It is impressive to see the treatment spent by the fascist Japanese soldiers for the rookies and how Kaji grows-up and learns how his idealistic concept of communism is shattered when he becomes a POW and swaps his initial position of supervisor to the one of prisoner. The hopeless conclusion fits perfectly to this masterpiece and shows that in times of war, people are far from the condition for being human to survive. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): Not Available

This is the third film in "The Human Condition" trilogy--a series of films that follow the very idealistic Kaji through WWII. At first, he believes strongly in the goodness and value of ALL people--putting him at odds with the xenophobic Japanese who see non-Japanese as subhuman. In the first film, Kaji is sent to oversee production at a forced labor camp where his humanitarian treatment of prisoners runs afoul of the militarists. By the end of the film, Kaji is not only removed from this job but inducted into the military.In the second film, he's in boot camp for much of the film and is frequently brutalized for his socialist views. By the end of the episode, it's the final days of the war and most of his unit is wiped out by Russian troops.Here in the third film, it picks up with Kaji and two other soldiers wandering about--trying to find food and civilization. Along the way, they meet up with other Japanese on the run and through the course of the film, most of the Japanese lose their humanity--thinking only of themselves and their baser instincts. However, Kaji is STILL an idealist--but he's finding it harder and harder to stick to these values as those around him degenerate like animals.Unfortunately, after struggling with hunger and exhaustion to try to find his way home, Kaji and his men are captured by the Russians and are sent to a work camp. There, in an ironic twist, Kaji learns firsthand what his workers in the first movie experienced. He's beaten, starved and treated like dirt. His socialist philosophy is finally broken when he realizes that Stalinist Russia is NOT a friend to the people--and it sucks just as much as any other lousy nation. He then escapes, wanders about and dies! Ultimately, the three films are about 10 hours of length and are an indictment of both the Japanese militarism as well as debunking the notion that humanity is universal. No, instead, war is useless and folks degenerate to their basest instincts. It's all very, very depressing and jaded--which isn't the least bit surprising for Japan during the 1950s--when lots of other great anti-war films debuted about the same subject matter--such as "Burmese Harp" and "Fires on the Plain". "The Human Condition" is great for its thoroughness and style, though I think the other two films are better since they are more concise--and, if anything, MORE negative in their depiction of war. Well worth seeing---just make sure you have a HUGE block of time to see it.

Ningen no jôken is a masterpiece film but is also painful to watch most of the time. Nonetheless, it is a tour de force to be lauded for its direction, cinematography and acting at every turn. Most of those commenting in previous discussions mention the virulent anti-war sentiment of the film which is abundantly evident. It was interesting that much of the film is autobiographical, inspired by Kobayashi's war experiences. He too refused to be an officer when he qualified, and stayed a private throughout the war. An interesting point came up when I was watching the fourth DVD in the Criterion edition of The HumanCondition which is a series of three insightful interviews. During his comments the director Masahiro Shinoda mentioned that he thought at the time, the romantic love Kaji had for his wife, Michiko, was overly sentimental and unrealistic. He thought that it was due to the fact that Kobayashi and his peers were born of another age whose romanticism was the norm and unsullied by his generation's sobering war experience. He said that he had also consulted the internet to see the opinions of the film among contemporary young people in Japan today, and found that they too, thought the love unrealistic. He felt the love should have been more erotic and less idealized. The remarks of another commentator solidified my opinion of this issue about Kaji's love. That writer stated that the title really means more like "condition for being human." This confirmed my opinion that Kobayashi's point of the film is that what makes one human, in the best sense of the word, is love. Otherwise we devolve into some type of cruel bestiality found in the phrase 'man's inhumanity to man.' This inhumanity is evident throughout the film, whether in the sadism of the other Japanese soldiers, the cruelty of the guards to the Chinese prisoners, or in the malice of the of the Russian overseers. However, the Kaji character is set apart: he sticks to his ideals, he is humble, he displays selflessness as seen when he gives his food to another or when leading the men and puts them ahead of himself. He is a type of everyman whose being is elevated above merely satisfying physical needs and responding to base instincts. He remains an ennobled human not a saint above the fray, but his love gives him the will to live, to continue on and to even do good when surrounded by evil. Love is the condition for being human.