"The three-part fuming World War II bummer The Human Condition (1959 - 61) - considered the magnum opus of socially critical Japanese filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri) - runs just shy of 10 hours and is an arduous watch in ways beyond its creator''s intentions," writes Aaron Hillis in the Voice. "Based on Jumpei Gomikawa''s ambitious novel and seasoned with Kobayashi''s own experiences, this overly melodramatic trilogy set in Japanese-occupied Manchuria depicts the dehumanizing brutality of war with on-the-nose pedantry, never subtext, and offers little richness to Western eyes already adjusted to the next half-century''s deeper anti-war tales."
Updated through 7/18.
Posted by: dwhudson
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