Barefoot through hell

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Movie
German title Barefoot through hell
Original title 人間 の 條件
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese , mandarin
Publishing year 1959-1961
length 579 minutes
Rod
Director Masaki Kobayashi
script
production
  • Shigeru Wakatsuki (I-III)
  • Masaki Kobayashi (II, III)
    		•
    music Chūji Kinoshita
    cut Keiichi Uraoka
    occupation

    Barefoot through Hell (人間 の 條件 , Ningen no jōken , literally: "The conditions of being human" ( conditio humana )) is a Japanese monumental film trilogy that was made from 1959 to 1961. The films are based on a novel by Gomikawa Jumpei (五味 川 純平 , 1916–1995). Another, later Japanese television adaptation in 7 parts with the same story wasbroadcaston ZDF in 1967.

    background

    Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and starring played Tatsuya Nakadai . The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist and socialist who tried to survive in the fascist and repressive Empire of Japan during the years of World War II . The development of the character Kaji in the course of the trilogy was received with enthusiasm many times. Each of the films is divided into two parts and the total playing time of the trilogy is nine hours and forty-seven minutes.

    action

    Barefoot through hell

    The first part from 1959 begins with Kaji marrying his beloved Michiko despite all his fears about the future. The couple then move to Manchuria , which has been colonized by Japan , where Kaji is assigned to a group of Chinese criminal workers as a guard. There he fails because of his attempt to reconcile his humanistic approaches with the brutal reality of the imperialist labor camp.

    Barefoot through hell: the road to eternity

    After Kaji forfeited his exemption from military service because he protected Chinese prisoners from unjust punishment, he is drafted into the Kwantung Army in the second part . Contrary to his anti-militarist attitude, Kaji proves to be an excellent soldier in his training, but tries to implement his ideals in dealing with the other soldiers, contrary to all prevailing brutality. The film ends with the successful Soviet invasion of Manchuria .

    Barefoot through hell: ... and then came the end

    In the last film, the Japanese armed forces were crushed. With some of his comrades, Kaji sets out on a huge walk south, where he hopes to find Michiko again. After surviving many dangers, he was caught by the Red Army and had to endure similar treatment to that which the Chinese had previously experienced. After a while he manages to escape. Disappointed with communism, from which he had hoped for the liberation of humanity, he realizes that this new system is no better than anything he had rebelled against so far. He continues to dream of finding his wife again and will eventually have to pass his final great test against the vast wastes of the Eurasian winter.

    reception

    The British film critic David Shipman described the trilogy in 1983 in his book The Story of Cinema as "undoubtedly the greatest film ever made" ( "unquestionably the greatest film ever made" ).

    The German film scholar Kay Less described Barefoot through Hell in his personal dictionary of the film as a " masterpiece of Japanese film art ". There it says:

    “With Kobayashi, the war in its cruel details, completely contradicting the then common Japanese thinking of heroism, loses any heroic component, the miserable death in the age of general dehumanization defies glorification. Kobayashi drew a depressing résumé in 'Barefoot through Hell': the human being - here his initially reluctant 'hero' Kaji - comes late, ultimately too late, to urgently needed insights and is often trapped in his social and political environment. "

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ seven-part mini-series on ZDF
    2. ↑ Shipman, D. The Story of Cinema , Hodder and Stoughton 1983
    3. ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 4: H - L. Botho Höfer - Richard Lester. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 425.