This is the first of a three-part movie (9 hours in total) that covers one man's experience during World War II. This first part takes place in 1943 in Manchuria, then occupied by the Japanese. Part I is 3.5 hours long.
Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a young liberal administrator working for a large mining company in Manchuria. His girlfriend, Michiko (Michiyo Aratama), works as a typist. They wish to marry, but Kaji fears he will soon be called to military service. He has written a lengthy paper for his company advocating for humane treatment of workers, including workers of other nationalities, arguing this would improve production. He is also a deeply committed humanist. He is offered an exemption from military service if he is willing to become the labor manager at a large mining facility within Manchuria that utilizes forced Chinese and Korean labor. He accepts, gets married, and they move to the mine where he appears to be about number 3 in the administrative ranks.
He has great difficulty overcoming harsh treatment of the workers by the Japanese masters. He works closely with Okishima (So Yamamura) who goes along with Kaji's humane approach (no violence, no stealing, honesty in relationships), though his own instincts are for harsher treatment of non-Japanese workers who number in the thousands. Things become more complex when about 50 Chinese "comfort women" enter the mix and the Japanese Kempeitai (military/secret police) send them 600 Chinese prisoners of war to serve as forced labor. These men are restricted behind electrified fences, but do have access to the comfort women.
This first part of "Human Condition" follows a variety of crises that Kaji encounters, including escapes aided by a trusted assistant, Chen (Akira Ishihama), his own occasional failings, the undermining of his authority by other administrators, and the interference by a brutal Kempeitai sergeant, Watai (Toru Abe). A crisis at the end of the three-hour film sets us up for his impending induction into military service in Part 2.
This is not a fast-moving film. There is not a lot of action, and the periodic violence mostly takes place off camera, and the fights have a staged look. But it's compelling to watch a pacifistic Japanese man try to live out his philosophy during World War II. The cinematography is often quite striking in black and white.
This the 17th in my list of movies in which pacifists are primary characters.
Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a young liberal administrator working for a large mining company in Manchuria. His girlfriend, Michiko (Michiyo Aratama), works as a typist. They wish to marry, but Kaji fears he will soon be called to military service. He has written a lengthy paper for his company advocating for humane treatment of workers, including workers of other nationalities, arguing this would improve production. He is also a deeply committed humanist. He is offered an exemption from military service if he is willing to become the labor manager at a large mining facility within Manchuria that utilizes forced Chinese and Korean labor. He accepts, gets married, and they move to the mine where he appears to be about number 3 in the administrative ranks.
He has great difficulty overcoming harsh treatment of the workers by the Japanese masters. He works closely with Okishima (So Yamamura) who goes along with Kaji's humane approach (no violence, no stealing, honesty in relationships), though his own instincts are for harsher treatment of non-Japanese workers who number in the thousands. Things become more complex when about 50 Chinese "comfort women" enter the mix and the Japanese Kempeitai (military/secret police) send them 600 Chinese prisoners of war to serve as forced labor. These men are restricted behind electrified fences, but do have access to the comfort women.
This first part of "Human Condition" follows a variety of crises that Kaji encounters, including escapes aided by a trusted assistant, Chen (Akira Ishihama), his own occasional failings, the undermining of his authority by other administrators, and the interference by a brutal Kempeitai sergeant, Watai (Toru Abe). A crisis at the end of the three-hour film sets us up for his impending induction into military service in Part 2.
This is not a fast-moving film. There is not a lot of action, and the periodic violence mostly takes place off camera, and the fights have a staged look. But it's compelling to watch a pacifistic Japanese man try to live out his philosophy during World War II. The cinematography is often quite striking in black and white.
This the 17th in my list of movies in which pacifists are primary characters.