Is it good? Is it more Mizoguchi or Spielberg?
Masaki Kobayashi is the only Japanese director that I know can give Kurosawa a run for his money.
I’m sure Human Condition is better than Mizoguchi or Spielberg.
Thanks for bringing this up Raysquirrel, I’m may buy this and Kwaidan during the B&N sale.
I bought this too, but it is stashed away until my birthday (late Dec.).
I’d liken him to Kurosawa before Mizoguchi/Ozu… or the bizzarely mentioned Spielberg.
Auteurs members; Adam Cook, Joshua W, and I all watched this at the pacific cinematheque in one sitting w/intermission breaks. Fantastic experience. It’s like WW2 and The Odyssey rolled into one. But I have to say, I do think that the first part out of the three is the best. Still great though.
Kobayashi is better than Kurosawa. For all the applause Kurosawa gets, he never made a single film I’ve found as aesthetically adventurous as Kaidan.
I haven’t seen Kwaidan yet. But why is it you demand a director to be Aesthetically adventurous? Perhaps the greatest Aesthetic adventure that Kurosawa took was “Kagemusha” nonetheless, he has many masterpieces under his belt; and does not deserve to be written off so easily.
Why not? That and adventurous narratives are what interest me as a viewer, and the narratives are the product of writers.
I haven’t bought The Human Condition yet but I’m getting really interested in it since it’s 50% off. If you think it should be bought, please tell me what you liked about it so much. Cos there’s many Criterions I want right now & I’m not sure how I’m gonna spend my money.
I saw this many years ago and was blown away by it. I had no hesitation in handing over the full price the day it came out on Criterion a couple of months ago. It rivals Kurosawa and is leagues ahead of anything Spielberg’s ever done. Truly a masterpiece and I would recommend it to anyone.
all i really have to add is “yes, it’s great”
The Human Condition is one of the supreme anti-war films and epics of world cinema, a powerful direct experience, yes more similar to Kurosawa than the refined Mizoguchi and quietly observant Ozu; very politically committed, having made his own stand against militarism in the war, and you see this anti-establishment bite too in Hara-Kiri. I would strongly recommend people see it, even with its length should be money well spent for a blind buy
So far the most arresting scene in the movie is the scene were the Chinese POWs arrive to the camp. It is difficult to describe this scene without seeming facetious or making light of the subject matter. The scene is like something out of a modern day zombie movie.
Though so far, I can’t help but feel that most of the movie is spent with characters standing around and talking. I recall a forum on this site that stated how most “cinema” is just people going from room-to-room and having conversations.
Raysquirrel,
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? How do you like the film?
To chime in, I’d say that the third section is an absolute masterpiece. The first is great, the second very good, but the fhird… Oh my was it brilliant.
Raysquirrel: This one?
This may be the only time I agree with what Bruce said. To me, Kobayashi is better than Kurosawa. Kurosawa was an incredible filmmaker and not someone to be dismissed in any conversation about film, but Kobayashi with this film specifically (along with Harakiri, and Kwaidan to a lesser extent) surpasses anything I’ve ever seen from Kurosawa… by leaps and bounds.
It’s an indescribable experience. The Human Condition Trilogy is one of the five or six greatest films I have ever seen.
“…by leaps and bounds…” Whoa, that’s a huge claim. And I’m assuming you saw a lot of Kurosawa’s films (at least the critically acclaimed ones).
Man, I’m really interested in Human Condition, based on the comments here (great cover art, too). With the 50% off sale, y’all got me pondering.
Let’s not go crazy with the hyperbole. I love The Human Condition, but it’s not as poignant as The Bad Sleep Well, or as riveting as Drunken Angel, or as powerful as Ikiru. Kurosawa is still number one, sorry.
Yeah, I’ve seen 18 of Kurosawa’s 30 films. Again, he made some incredible films, and this is just my (very) subjective opinion, but nothing he ever made compares to The Human Condition Trilogy.
That being said Seven Samurai, The Lower Depths, Ikiru, and High and Low stand as some of the greatest achievements in film.
That means, logically, The Human Condition is, by far, the greatest film ever made—or in the top three, let’s say.
(Pushing me closer to spending the big bucks…)
Dax have you seen Red Bear or Ran?
One thing to mention too is not only that it has a vast, epic scope but every shot is masterfully composed. For that reason alone the film would be staggering and demanding, but the fact that there are 9+ hrs of that intensity of cinematic vision/composition and the emotional reach—it’s pretty near my top of “greatest films ever.”
And I agree with Raysquirrel about the proto-zombie POWs. I actually think that the scene is more horrifying now because we have that reference, post-Romero, et al.
In any event, why does this have to be Kobayashi vs. Kurosawa?
Just finished disc one of The Human Condition. The film really began to pick-up in the last half hour, where there was a little more urgency to Kaji’s actions.
There was greater tragedy in way that Kao and the other two POWs would probably still be alive if Kaji would had just stood up sooner. A feeling that is better reinforced by the ending were Kaji escapes with his wife. While the wife that Kao will never have curses his name as they escape.
Now officially looking forward to Disc Two.
And on a different note. Thought I would recommend Samurai Assassin if anyone hasn’t seen or heard of it. It was directed by Sword of Doom Kihachi Okamoto. It is another great samurai movie and this one stars Toshiro Mifune. It was released by AnimeEigo which has been a great resource for little known jidaigeki.
“Kobayashi is better than Kurosawa. For all the applause Kurosawa gets, he never made a single film I’ve found as aesthetically adventurous as Kaidan.”
This isn’t to knock Kwidan, but I’d have to think that Rashomon is one of the most adventurous films in terms of narrative design and aesthetics. Say what you will about all of his other movies, but that one is no joke.
I second Samurai Assassin, especially the last part. in fact if there is going to be X vs Kurosawa, I think Okomato does better job of filming fight sequences.
@ raysquirrel, as you’ll see, Kaji doesn’t really escape.
“Yeah, I’ve seen 18 of Kurosawa’s 30 films. Again, he made some incredible films, and this is just my (very) subjective opinion, but nothing he ever made compares to The Human Condition Trilogy.”
I’m with you, Col. Dax. I’ve seen maybe 12 Kurosowa films, and while they are all excellent, none of them touch the “The Human Condition.” It makes some masterpieces look like cute little fables.
RaySquirrel
I bought the movie two days ago at barnes & noble.
I have no illusion about watching this in one sitting.
I am almost at the two hour mark.