The Human Condition | Blu-ray & DVD (Criterion)
RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2021
On June 8, 2021, Criterion Collection is releasing the Blu-ray & DVD for Masaki Kobayashi’s nine-and-a-half-hour The Human Condition, presented for the first time on Blu-ray with a high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural (Parts 1–4) and 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Parts 5 and 6) soundtracks.
Read the official details below:
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-hour The Human Condition, adapted from Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel, tells of the journey of the well-intentioned yet naive Kaji—played by the Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai—from 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 Japan’s wartime mentality as well as a personal existential tragedy, Kobayashi’s riveting, gorgeously filmed epic is novelistic cinema at its best.
- On the Blu-ray: High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural (Parts 1–4) and 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio (Parts 5 and 6) soundtracks
- On the DVD: Restored high-definition digital transfer
- Excerpt from a 1993 Directors Guild of Japan interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda
- Interview from 2009 with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
- Appreciation of Kobayashi and The Human Condition from 2009 featuring Shinoda
- Trailers
- PLUS: An essay by critic Philip Kemp
- Cover design by Sarah Habibi, calligraphy by Akiko Crowther
Stay tuned for pre-order information.
One of the best movies (well…3 movies but in fact like one…) ever made. Already bought French DVDs, then UK Blu-Rays… But I’ll “throw” ’em all away if Criterion makes UK Blu-rays of that/those masterpiece(s).