THE CONDITION OF MAN by Masaki Kobayashi (1959-1961)
Box 3 Blu-rays
The greatest fresco of Japanese cinema
1943. Kaji, a civil administrator employed in a mineral company, leaves with his wife for the coal mines in South Manchuria. In the heart of desolate landscapes, Kaji struggles with the sole aim of improving the working conditions of the workers. When starving Chinese prisoners are entrusted to him by the military police, Kaji begins to oppose, despite the imperatives of war, the extreme methods of his hierarchy. For him then begins a dramatic and cruel human adventure...
Adaptation of the literary work of Junpei Gomikawa, The Condition of Man is one of the monuments of world cinema. In this historical fresco divided into three parts, director Masaki Kobayashi gives birth to a strikingly realistic anti-war rant. The audacity of the project, harsh and grandiose, possesses the brilliance of the great classics of the seventh art, in the same way as Napoleon by Abel Gance. Available for the first time in Box 3 Blu-ray™, The Condition of Man is a masterpiece of overwhelming fragility in the great tradition of Kurosawa.
Available in Blu-ray box set
Rigid case containing 3 slim digipacks and a booklet
New Master Restored
Original version with French subtitles
THE BOX CONTAINS
PART 1: THERE IS NO GREATER LOVE
(1959 – Black & White – 205 mins)
INCLUDES THE ORIGINAL TRAILER
PART 2: THE PATH TO ETERNITY
(1959 – Black & White – 178 mins)
INCLUDES THE ORIGINAL TRAILER
PART 3: THE SOLDIER'S PRAYER
(1961 – Black & White – 191 mins)
INCLUDES THE ORIGINAL TRAILER
A 32-PAGE BOOKLET
Written by Claire-Akiko Brisset, professor of Japanese studies and specialist in Kobayashi, The Condition of Man by Masaki Kobayashi: an absolute cinematographic object returns to the historical, thematic and pictorial form of the work.
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3 BD • HIGH DEFINITION MASTER • 1080/23.98p • AVC ENCODING
Original Version DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 • French Subtitles
2.35 format respected • Black & White • Total Film Length: 574 mins
Released November 4, 2020
