The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)

 Masaki Kobayashi's "The Human Condition I: No Greater Love"


In making "The Human Condition" trilogy, Masaki Kobayashi crafted perhaps one of the greatest Japanese epics of its Golden Age. Many of the film coming out of this cinematic renaissance either directly or indirectly reconciled with Japan's dark relationship with World War II. These films were deeply reflective of the war's far reaching effects - not just on the post-war period that followed - but on how it effected how an entire people reflected on their own complex complicity in the moral corruption that ensued. 

"The Human Condition" not only directly touched on these themes, but epitomized the entire cinematic landscape of a nation. Part I of this trilogy, subtitled "No Greater Love" adeptly explores the difficulty in remaining pacifistic against a nationalistic machine that demands adherence to its depravity. This unflinching view of a nation's own recent past would be fumbled in the hands of anyone other than Kobayashi, whose sprawling epic is as courageous as its central character.

It centers on Kaji, a recently married man who gets hired at a large mining operation as a chief labor manager in order to bypass military duty. Kaji's pacifistic ways cause frustration within the labor camp's bureaucratic offices. After inheriting oversight of a POW camp, Kaji implements his directive changes, treating his prisoners with respect. Although this yields productivity increases, bitter and angry opposers to this seemingly 'anti-Japanese' sentiment sabotage his methods and steal his workers, even going as far as murdering them. After Kaji stands up against them, he is transferred to military service. 

The film's runtime, 3 hours and 26 minutes, can often-times feel its weight. But this endurance test aids the film's intended weight. We watch as Kaji must sacrifice his own safety and comfortable position to defend his detainees and treat them with respect. Throughout this grueling test of moral strength, I see myself coming to breaking points throughout. The film acts as a litmus test in this way, demonstrating the viewer's own tipping point into moral complicity.

The next several films in this trilogy continues Kaji's headlong journey into maintaining his moral composure throughout the rest of the war. The endurance continues.



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