New Arrival The Human Condition (#480) USED

This mammoth humanist drama by Masaki Kobayashi is one of the most staggering achievements of Japanese cinema.

Originally filmed and released in three installments of two parts each, the nine-and-a-half-hourThe Human Condition,adapted from Junpei Gomikawas six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kajiplayed by the Japanese superstarTatsuya Nakadaifrom labor camp supervisor to Imperial Army soldier to Soviet prisoner of war.

Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and again finds his morals to be an impediment rather than an advantage.

A raw indictment of Japans wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashis riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.