Search - Human Condition II: The Road to Eternity on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1960 DVD Release: 07/06/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: Japanese Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 57 mins Studio: Image Entertainment Members Wishing: 8 Genres: Drama, War, War Drama

The second of Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi's Human Condition trilogy was titled The Road to Eternity (originally Zoku Ningen No Joken). Picking up where 1958's No Greater Love left off, this 1961 film finds the gentle, pacifistic Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) being sent to basic training camp in Manchuria in the waning days of World War II. Kaji struggles bravely to stick to his non-aggressive principals, only to be beaten and tortured for his troubles. Pushed to the edge, Kaji ends up killing a fellow soldier in the heat of battle. The film concludes with the surrender of Japan, but the story is open-ended enough to allow for a sequel: 1970's A Soldier's Prayer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tatsuya Nakadai - Kaji
Michiyo Aratama - Machiko
Keiji Sada - Kageyama
Jun Tatara - Hino
Kei Sato - Shinjo

Masaki Kobayashi's poignant trilogy Human Condition has its second film, The Road to Eternity, come to DVD with a widescreen transfer that faithfully reproduces the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.20:1. The Japanese soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English subtitles are accessible. Although there are no extra features, simply owning a widescreen image for this classic of Japanese cinema is reason enough to own this DVD. Anyone with an interest in the great moviemaking traditions of that country will find this disc interesting ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide