The Human Condition (1959) - (The Criterion Collection - #480) [3 DVD9 + DVD5] [2009]

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 joken), adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji (handsome Japanese superstar 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. A raw indictment of its nation’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.







MOVIE:
DIRECTOR: Masaki Kobayashi
COUNTRY: Japan
YEAR: 1959-61

CAST
Tatsuya Nakadai
Michiyo Aratama
Chikage Awashima
Keiji Sada
Ineko Arima
Kokinji Katsura
Jun Tatara
Michirô Minami
Kei Satô
Tamao Nakamura
Yûsuke Kawazu
Chishû Ryû
Kyôko Kishida
Reiko Hitomi
(Among many others)







Credits
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Screenplay: Zenzo Matsuyama (screenplay), Masaki Kobayashi (screenplay), Jumpei Gomikawa (novel)
Cinematography: Yoshio Miyajima
Production Design: Yoshirô Muraki
Art Direction: Kazue Hirataka
Editing: Keiichi Uraoka
Original Music: Chûji Kinoshita







DVD:
DVD RELEASE: September 8, 2009
STUDIO: Criterion
CATALOG: 480
SYSTEM: NTSC
SCREEN: 2.35:1
COLOR: Black and White
AUDIO: Japanese Dolby Digital Mono/3.1
SUBTITLES: English
RUNTIME (MOVIE): 574 minutes









EXTRACTION:
ENGINE: DVD Fab + Ultra ISO
DVD: 3 Full Dual-Layer DVD's + 1 Full Single Layer DVD
FILE EXTENSION: Image (.ISO)
FILE SIZE: Disc one: 7.45 GB | Disc two: 6.99 GB | Disc 3: 7.48 GB | Disc 4: 3.73 GB



Disc Features

FOUR-DISC SPECIAL EDITION:

* New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* Excerpt from a rare Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide)
* New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
* Video appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition featuring Shinoda
* Japanese theatrical trailers
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp


INFO LINKS:

IMDB: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

CRITERION

AMAZON

WIKIPEDIA