Written by Will Sorg

In recent years, there has been a growing audience for Asian movies in North America. With “Parasite” becoming an international sensation along with Asian-American blockbusters like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Shang-Shi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” it is clear that Asian cinema has made a huge impression on Western audiences. So it is important to look back on the history of Asian cinema and focus on an underseen but immensely influential Japanese movie trilogy, “The Human Condition” (1959).
“The Human Condition” trilogy, directed by Masaki Kobayashi follows a pacifist socialist named Kaji as his ideology and very existence is tested. Set primarily in Manchuria during World War II, Kaji takes up a job as a manager of a prisoner war camp to stay out of military service. Over the course of three films he grapples with the realities of war, attempts to make positive change in a system that is fundamentally broken, and he eventually is forced into enlisting. Kaji is shown to be a good yet flawed man who is stuck in a time where good men were treated as traitors.

The struggles of humanity and its desire to be right and good are encapsulated in one man.

The movies themselves are incredible to behold. Each is over three hours long and brims with gorgeous black and white imagery. The scenes jump out at you like an expressionist painting. The vast fields of Manchuria dwarf the characters that inhabit them, making them feel small in the grand scheme of the world. The camera is like a character itself; following the characters as they run, hoping to keep up with them so the story may continue. It often tilts into a dutch angle while Kaji himself is in distress and pain. This emotive visual style perfectly captures the sadness and desperation of the films. The movies are humanistic while also vehemently anti-war and against the military system.
These bold and impassioned ideas injected into the film are very personal for the filmmakers. Director Kobayashi was a pacifist in World War II. While he was a soldier in the Japanese army he refused to be promoted any higher than the base rank of private and by all accounts he never fought or killed. He actually spent time in a POW camp during the war which likely inspired many of the haunting and realistic portrayals of such camps in the movies.
These movies are not for everyone. They are bleak, incredibly long, and raise uncomfortable questions about the nature of humanity. However they are undoubtedly a marvel to behold, and the story of Kaji is one of the most fascinating character arcs ever to be put to film. It serves as some of the most essential anti-war films and it has influenced the genre forever. From “Schindler’s List” to “Full Metal Jacket”, if you look close enough you will find a piece of these movies inside nearly every war movie made since.