Human Condition, Part 3: A Soldier's Prayer on AllMovie

This strong indictment against the brutalities of war is the third impressive drama in a trilogy by Masaki Kobayashi that began in 1959 with The Human Condition, Part I, No Greater Love and Part II Road to Eternity. The antihero, Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) has experienced the worst side of human nature on the battlefield and now, suffering from fatigue and illness, he surrenders to the Russians in the hope that they will show more compassion than his own officers. His persistence in hanging onto this hope -- and a faith in the more noble aspects of the human condition -- endure in spite of all the cruelty, groveling for favors, rape of women, and the filth in which they all live. Kaji himself is forced to kill again before he manages to escape and head towards an uncertain destiny.