The Human Condition watch order
There are 3 The Human Condition films, about 9.5 hours in total. The first was released in 1959, the latest in 1961. Watching in release order is the safest way to meet the story as audiences did.
The Human Condition is a Japanese film epic released as a trilogy between 1959 and 1961. The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist and socialist, as he tries to survive in the totalitarian and oppressive world of World War II-era Japan. Taken altogether as a single film, it is 9 hours and 47 minutes long, which includes intermissions, making it one of the longest narrative films ever made. While the films earned considerable controversy at the time of their release in Japan, The Human Condition was critically acclaimed, won many international awards, and has since established Masaki Kobayashi as one of the most important Japanese directors of his generation.
- 1
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
15 Jan 1959 · 204 min
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen,
- 2
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity (1959)
20 Nov 1959 · 178 min
Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.
- 3
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
28 Jan 1961 · 190 min
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his old life, he faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his men sneak behind enemy lines.
Order and dates from TMDB collection data. Unreleased entries are added once they get a release date.