Human Condition, The (DVD)

Masaki Kobayashis 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 Gomikawas 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 nations wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashis riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.