Ningen no jôken (1959/I)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Masaki Kobayashi

Writers:

Zenzo Matsuyama (screenplay) &
Masaki Kobayashi (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

First of a trilogy of films. During the Second World War, a Japanese conscientious objector named Kaji...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Conscientious Objector | Chinese | Japanese | China

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Kaji
Michiyo Aratama	...	Michiko
Chikage Awashima	...	Tôfuku Kin
Ineko Arima	...	Shunran Yô
Keiji Sada	...	Kageyama
Sô Yamamura	...	Okishima
Akira Ishihama	...	Chin
Koji Nambara	...	Kô (as Shinji Nanbara)
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Kyôritsu Ô
Toru Abe	...	Watarai Gunsô (as Tôru Abe)
Masao Mishima	...	Kuroki Shochô
Eitarô Ozawa	...	Okazaki
Koji Mitsui	...	Furuya (as Kôji Mitsui)
Akitake Kôno	...	Kôno Taii
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Honsha Buchô

Also Known As:

Ningen no jôken: Dai 1 bu - Jun'ai hen (Japan) (first part title)
Ningen no jôken: Dai 1 hen (Japan) (promotional title)
Ningen no jôken: Dai 2 bu - Gekido hen (Japan) (second part title)
Ningen no joken I-II
No Greater Love
The Human Condition I (USA)

Runtime:

208 min | West Germany:157 min | Japan:96 min (part 2)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Mandarin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Ninjin Club

Movie Connections:

Followed by Ningen no jôken (1959/II)

The struggle for humanity in an inhuman environment

An interesting film that portrays the struggles of an idealistic young Japanese man who is challenged to employ his idealism in the service of the Japanese war effort in WW II. A key aspect of this struggle is the protagonist's struggle within himself. Kaji, the young man, seeks to humanize the brutal conditions at a mining operation in Manchuria. Further complicating matters is the profound sense of national prejudice that shapes the relationships between the various characters. To the workers & Chinese prisoners, regardless of his professed ideals, Kaji is Japanese and therefore an oppressor. Although Kaji tries to win their trust, his own frustration enables him to strike a young Chinese helper, reinforcing the image of the brutal Japanese. This weakness is a key underlying theme. Even late in the film, when he takes a very brave stand against some executions, his effort is a bit late and his stand is successful only when the Chinese prisoners take up the protest. He struggles because her fears he cannot live up to the ideals he expresses.

Kaji is also confronted with the another irony. Although he opposes the war, he has chosen a route of avoidance rather than resistance. This is emphasized early in the film during an evening with a friend who is about to be inducted. His friend comments that, although they opposed the war, neither of them was brave enough to face the penalty for resistance of life imprisonment. Shortly thereafter, he takes the mine job to get a military exemption. Yet, if he is successful, the production improvements in the mine only fuel the Japanese war machine.

A valuable film because it explores areas of the pacific war that are not well know in the west. Also an interesting observation in the danger of half-measures when taking a moral stance. Kaji is ultimately confronted with the fact that you cannot avoid the war, only oppose it or aid it. I look forward to viewing the next film.