is a 1961 Japanese film directed by
Masaki Kobayashi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...
. It is the third part of ''
The Human Condition
''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with ...
'' trilogy.
Plot
The Japanese forces having been shattered during the events of the second film (Road to Eternity), Kaji and some comrades attempt to elude capture by Soviet forces and find the remnants of the Kwantung army in South Manchuria. Following the bayonetting of a Russian soldier, however, Kaji is increasingly sick of combat and decides to abandon any pretense of rejoining the army. Instead, he leads fellow soldiers and a growing number of civilian refugees as they attempt to flee the warzone and return to their homes. Lost in a dense forest, the Japanese begin to infight and eventually many die of hunger, poisonous mushrooms and suicide. Emerging from the forest on their last legs, Kaji and the refugees encounter regular Japanese army troops, who deny them food as if they were deserters. Carrying on further south, Kaji and his associates find a well-stocked farmhouse which is soon ambushed by Chinese peasant fighters. A prostitute to whom Kaji had shown kindness is killed by these partisans, and Kaji vows to fight them rather to escape. However, overpowered by these newly armed Chinese forces, Kaji and his fellow soldiers are nearly killed and are forced to run through a flaming wheat field to survive. Kaji then encounters a group of fifty Japanese army holdouts who are attempting to resume combat in alliance with
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
, whom they believe will be supported by American forces, in a civil war against Russian-backed Communist Chinese. Kaji, a believer in pacifism and socialism, rejects this strategy as misguided and doomed to failure. Eventually, Kaji and a group of Japanese soldiers, whose number has grown to fifteen, fight through Russian patrols and find an encampment of women and old men who seek their protection. Kaji is driven to continue moving in search of his wife, but decides to surrender to Soviet forces when the encampment is besieged.
Captured by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
and subjected to treatment that echoes the violence meted out to the Chinese in the first film, Kaji and his protégé Terada resist the Japanese officers who run their work camp in cooperation with Soviet forces. While such resistance amounts to no more than picking through the Russians' garbage for scraps of food and wearing gunnysacks to protect them from increasingly colder weather, Kaji is branded a saboteur and judged by a Soviet tribunal to harsh labor. With a corrupt translator and no other means of talking to the Russian officers with whom he feels ideological sympathies, Kaji becomes increasingly disillusioned by conditions in the camp and with Communist orthodoxy. When Terada is driven to exhaustion and death by harsh treatment from the collaborating officer Kirihara, Kaji decides to kill the man and then escape the camp alone. Still dreaming of finding his wife and abused as a worthless beggar and as a "Japanese devil" by the Chinese peasants of whom he begs mercy, Kaji eventually succumbs to the cold and dies in the
vast
Vast or VAST may refer to:
* ''Vast'' (novel), a 1998 science fiction novel by Linda Nagata
* ''Vast'' (2011 film), a Dutch film, winner of the 2011 Golden Calf for Best Television Drama
* Vast Broadband, an American cable and internet compan ...
winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...
wasteland covered in snow.
Cast
*
Tatsuya Nakadai
is a Japanese film actor.
He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including ''The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus ''Harakiri'', ''Samurai Rebellion'' and ''Kwaidan''.
Nakadai wor ...
as Kaji
*
Kin Sugai
(28 February 1926 – 10 August 2018) was a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 9th Hochi Film Award for '' The Funeral''. Sugai is famous for her role as Sen Nakamura in the jidaigeki drama Hissatsu series.
Sh ...
*
Kyoko Kishida
is a very common feminine Japanese given name. Not to be confused with Kiyoko.
Possible writings
The final syllable "ko" is typically written with the kanji character for child, 子. It is a common suffix to female names in Japan.
The first s ...
as Ryuko
*
Yūsuke Kawazu
was a Japanese actor.
Life and career
Kawazu was born in Tokyo on 12 May 1935. While still a student at Keio University, Kawazu signed with Shochiku in 1958 and debuted in Kinoshita's ''The Eternal Rainbow''. He became one of the studio's lead ...
*
Nobuo Kaneko
was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yatsuko Tanami. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1950 and 1993.
Career
Kaneko was a versatile character actor, playing roles ranging from comedic buffoons to hardened yakuza bosses. He is es ...
*
Akira Yamauchi
is a Japanese footballer currently playing as a midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive ...
*
Michiyo Aratama
was a Japanese film and stage actress.
Biography
After graduating from the Takarazuka Music and Dance School, Aratama joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1945. She gave her film debut in 1951, but it was not before 1955 that she left the Takarazuk ...
as Michiko
*
Hideko Takamine
was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years. She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita, with ''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) ...
Release
The film was released in 1961, while shown at various film festivals internationally. All-night marathons of the film were occasionally shown in Japan; screenings with Tatsuya Nakadai in attendance typically sold out.
In 1999, Image Entertainment released ''A Soldier's Prayer'' (as well as the rest of the trilogy) on region 0 DVDs. These discs were noted for their poor image quality, cropped aspect ratio, lackluster sound, paraphrased English subtitle translation, and absence of extras. On September 8, 2009,
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...
released the film (again with the rest of the trilogy) with a brand new restoration, improved translation, a bonus disc with interviews, and a 12-page supplementary booklet.
Arrow Video
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers ca ...
released a dual-format (Blu-ray and DVD) edition of the film and the rest of the trilogy in September 2016. The six-disc set includes an introduction and select scene commentary by film critic Philip Kemp, theatrical trailers, and a booklet with a new writing by David Desser.
Awards
16th
Mainichi Film Award
The
are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan.
History
The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...
* Won:
Best Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soldier's Prayer
1961 films
Films directed by Masaki Kobayashi
Japanese war drama films
Films with screenplays by Masaki Kobayashi
Films set in Manchukuo
1960s Japanese films
Japanese historical drama films