I'm fairly convinced that Criterion's The Human Condition is circling the top honors for my favorite DVD release of the year, so I feel no remorse continuing to plug the living daylights out of it. I found myself daydreaming and writing about a thing or two that occurred to me the other day.

Thing One

The treatment of women is one of the strongest undercurrents in the three films, including both Kaji's wife Michiko and the "comfort women" of the labor camp featured in Volume I. Two lone women appear in the basic training setting of Volume II, and the most diverse collection of women are on the run from advancing Soviet troops in Volume III. Kaji encounters Michiko more than once after Volume I, sometimes in person, at others in hallucinations and yet others in dreams. Many of the women he meets on the way to find her in Volume III have similarities to her in personality and in temperament. Aside from the anti-war stance taken by the books and film, the portrayal of women's oppression in Japanese culture is a close second for what was most controversial during the film's original run and for some time thereafter.

Thing Two

As much as I enjoyed Inglourious Basterds as the jaunt away from reality that it was, it doesn't hold a candle to a third or even a sixth of Kobayashi's career masterwork (nor did it aspire to do so). Juxtaposing The Human Condition to the other notable WWII film of late is an interesting look at two takes on the same event that couldn't be more different. For every inch of Basterds that is referential and singly-voiced, Human Condition is equally engrossing and universal.

My review of the set can be found here, my preview photos of the packaging are here, and you can read about how I think Kaji's journey relates to Lawrence of Arabia here.