Human Condition, The (Blu-ray)

This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawas six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kajiplayed by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadaifrom labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage. A raw indictment of Japans wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashis riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.