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The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

Play trailer Poster for The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959 3h 20m War Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 95% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Although war has broken out, conscientious objector Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) hopes his job as manager for a mining company will keep him from being conscripted. His latest pet project is to improve working conditions for Chinese laborers in a far-flung mine, and, although his employers have their doubts, they agree to it. Once there, Kaji is dejected to find very little support for his ideas, and as POWs are introduced to the workforce, he risks his position by helping them.

Critics Reviews

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David Mermelstein Wall Street Journal 06/10/2021
What's astonishing is the way that Kobayashi juggles the complicated narrative, with its panoply of incidents and significant characters (friends, nemeses and everything in between), so that clarity is never compromised. Go to Full Review
David Fear Time Out 11/17/2011
4/5
It's [Tatsuya] Nakadai who makes this impressive yet flawed screed worth your time commitment. Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety 06/29/2011
This is unique as a social document but pretty slow going as film entertainment. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 03/12/2024
[A] foreign masterpiece... Go to Full Review
Robert Ham PopMatters 07/20/2021
8/10
A Sisyphean journey through WWII-era Japan. Go to Full Review
Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine 07/22/2019
The action is often frenetic and yet the film seems to last even longer than the three hours and twenty minutes it does last, probably because there is no structure and no rhythmical build-up; just a series of episodes. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Virgo V @vision Dec 11 The Human Condition I: No Greater Love is a 1959 Japanese epic war drama film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. It is the first part of The Human Condition trilogy. It is based on The Human Condition by Junpei Gomikawa. It was written by Masaki and Zenzo Matsuyama. It stars Tatsuya Nakasai and Michiyo Aratama. It was produced by Ninjin Club and distributed by Shochiku Company, Limited. Vision wrote: "in the World War II-era of Japan, Kaji marries his sweetheart Michiko despite his misgivings about the future. He serves as a labor chief assigned to a workforce of Chinese prisoners. Well choreographed, directed, performed and written. An outstanding masterpiece! One of the greatest Japanese films I have ever seen. Four and a half fries! A golden potato! I would also classify it as a Julienne. All it needed was a side of Daigaku-imo!" See more Dani G 08/15/2023 Heavy drama. Patient storytelling. Powerful film. See more andres s 02/14/2022 Wow, this is the youngest I've ever seen Nakadai. Very cinematic movie. It reminds me of Casablanca a little bit. The scope of it is quite grand and epic. I didn't know what to expect from this movie but I'm liking it so far. God, what a miserable place that mining town. Oh shit, it seems like Kaji is in over his head with this new manager laborer job. It's crazy how crooked and unfair Kaji's coworkers are. These "supervisors" are taking advantage of and mistreating their laborers. I can see why this movie is called The Human Condition as it deals with the fairness and justice of human lives. The disregard for human life that people can learn during wartime is something that I'll never get over. It can turn a person into a cruel soulless monster. Shit, I wonder how things are going to change now that they're taking in 600 Chinese POW's and putting them to work in their mines. Wow, when they opened up those train cars and the people started pouring out, that was like some Holocaust type shit. TO BE CONTINUED… So! Same thing with A Brighter Summer Day, this movie's long as fuck. Too long for me to give a damn about what happens next at this point in time in my life. I do want to finish it and it was turning out to be a good movie, but right now, I don't care to spend another 2 hours finishing it. See more 12/03/2019 A magnificent film of unfathomable pathos and grit. Quite provocative and intense. Definitely not for lovers of cliched, gentle and glamorized cinema or superhero scintillating heroics. See more 08/29/2016 This film is brilliantly crafted with powerful characters, emotions, struggles, betrayal, and of course suffering. With a theme similar to Schindler's List, this is a film that expresses the real life horrors of the Second World War, told from the view of a Japanese man as he begins realize the evil and horror that his country is helping to spread around the world. At almost three and a half hours, the film leaves us with many interesting stories and characters to follow. So even if the film's running time is unattractive, it's a movie no one should miss. See more 10/25/2015 A sweeping epic brimming with raw emotion and brilliantly drawn characters. See more Read all reviews
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

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Movie Info

Synopsis Although war has broken out, conscientious objector Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) hopes his job as manager for a mining company will keep him from being conscripted. His latest pet project is to improve working conditions for Chinese laborers in a far-flung mine, and, although his employers have their doubts, they agree to it. Once there, Kaji is dejected to find very little support for his ideas, and as POWs are introduced to the workforce, he risks his position by helping them.
Director
Masaki Kobayashi
Producer
Shigeru Wakatsuki
Screenwriter
Jumpei Gomikawa, Masaki Kobayashi, Zenzô Matsuyama
Distributor
Brandon Films Inc., Image Entertainment Inc.
Genre
War
Original Language
Japanese
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 14, 1959, Wide
Runtime
3h 20m
Sound Mix
Mono