THE HUMAN CONDITION PART III: A SOLDIER'S PRAYER
[NINGEN NO JŌKEN] [人間の條件]
Masaki Kobayashi’s mammoth humanist drama is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema. Originally filmed and released in three parts, the nine-and-a-half-hour THE HUMAN CONDITION (NINGEN NO JŌKEN), adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet POW. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals an impediment rather than an advantage. Both a raw indictment of Japan’s wartime mentality and a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best. (Note courtesy of Janus Films.)
PART III: A SOLDIER’S PRAYER
Shortly after their disastrous battle, Kaji leads his beleaguered soldiers behind enemy lines, attempting to evade Soviet capture. The journey proves harrowing as Kaji is beset by difficult challenges along the way. DIR/SCR/PROD Masaki Kobayashi; SCR Zenzō Matsuyama, Kōichi Inagaki, from the novel by Junpei Gomikawa; PROD Shigeru Wakatsuki. Japan, 1961, b&w, 191 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. NOT RATED
In Memoriam: Tatsuya Nakadai (1932–2025)
PART I: NO GREATER LOVE plays July 18, 21 & 23.
PART III: A SOLDIER'S PRAYER plays August 1, 5 & 6.
Run Time: 191 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, August 01, 2026
Genre: War drama
