The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

Part I was a "Prisoner of War" drama with a love story sub-plot, then Part II is one of the best and rawest of the Military-camp films ever Made... I think that the second Part is More captivating than the first, maybe because i love military camp films a lot. Oh man i Can't Wait to see the Final Part.

This second part of the trilogy is as powerful as the first one. It is gritty but so intense, riveting, I am so amazed, that I think it's such a shame that no more audiences watched it. It is a precious document, rare, so rich for any history lover, searcher or simply movie goer. A so poignant story, that it is impossible to remain frozen in front of it. Keep in mind that no Hollywood or even European film could have been like this one. A pure masterpiece that I highly recommend. This director from Japan was an outcast in his own country precisely because of those three movies. I am not surprised.

It's been a long time since I've seen "Ningen no joken II", the second of Kibiyashi's trilogy: "The Human Condition". One scene (and you'll know it if you see the film) is one of the most visually stunning and heart wrenching in movie history. The rest of the film isn't far behind it with Tatsuya Nakadai giving a brilliant performance playing a good man caught in the monstrous jaws of history. Deeply moving.

Part II of Masaki Kobayashi's "Human Condition" follows the noble Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai), now forced into military service, as he tries to hold on to his conscience despite increasingly absurd circumstances.

If Part I was a POW drama with a love story sub-plot, influencing many that followed it, then Part II is one of the best and rawest of the original boot-camp films, planting seeds for, in particular, "Full Metal Jacket". In fact, Kaji's training with the Imperial Army makes US Boot Camp look like daycare, uninclined as director Kobayashi is to pull punches when it comes to the ritual sadism of the Japanese military, which he personally endured in real life. The film bravely confronts Kaji's attitude, an almost holier-than-thou morality than annoys bullying veterans. This forces Kaji to deeply transform as a character and as a human being, from preppy moralist to actual, worn hero, a transition Nakadai pulls off with tremendous effect and efficiency.

But back to the bigger picture. Like Kubrick's similar – and, one should point out, lesser – film of the same genre, this is two pictures in one: a boot-camp film about the dehumanization of the military, and a war film. The first two thirds are all intensive training, with bullying veterans and hapless recruits. Here Kaji faces an interesting contradiction: he rejects the war with all his heart, yet he has it in him to be a perfect warrior. There is the inevitable inept recruit pushed to the brink subplot, but it is handled with more humanity and sense of absurdity than most other similar films could dream of.

Finally, the film takes us to the front, where all the bluster and empty honor fades in front of a line of charging enemy tanks, a startlingly effective battle scene that separates the men from the boys, though not in ways they had anticipated. Kobayashi's film rejects the traditional "bridge syndrome" typical of middle installments in film trilogies, and gives us the perfect Part II: a self-contained enough story with enough substance and depth to stand on its own, while drawing from its predecessor and opening up interesting possibilities for the finale.

Roll on part III.

The Greeks used the theme of purification through suffering. It is, I believe, the central them of The Iliad. Kaji is a classic hero. He is a man of stuff that few are. In the first, he is nearly destroyed by his own ethical being. Seen as an enemy sympathizer (mainly the Chinese) he ignores the platitudes of war and sees it as something humanity doesn't need. Of course, mankind only knows war and makes heroes out of warriors (even if they must die) and glorifies the whole idea of war. In the second part of the trilogy, Kaji has been drafted and is seen as trouble and watched. He is put in charge of a group of mature soldiers (Japan is losing the war and calling middle aged men to fight). He tries to get his superiors to treat recruits with kindness. This really rubs the other soldiers the wrong way and he continues to be a liability to them.

In the latter part of the film, he and his men go into battle. Unfortunately, with the Japanese on the skids, they are attacked by a Russian tank battalion. They are sitting ducks. Kaji continues to exhibit his heroism, even though many of the men have lost their discipline. Yet instead of seeing himself as a hero, he continues to see the evils of war.