The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
War • 1959 • 2 hr 58 min
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User Reviews
If the first is about staying human despite cruel law and the third is staying despite no law, this is the transition.
My favorite part of the trilogy, heart-aching.
Challenging morality; exploring the philosophy of what it is to be a decent person.
A deep descent into the binding reality of the military. Unforgettable cinema
An absolute misery to watch, seeing Kaji navigate the army world of lawless order with only slight glimpses of respite,
Great, moving war film that exposes the worst in humanity
Goes deep
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Kaji, sent to the Japanese army labeled Red, witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against a fellow recruit. He also sees his friend Shinjô defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labour chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts and moves with his newlywed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his old life, he faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his men sneak behind enemy lines.
