The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity continues the story of Kaji, a Japanese pacifist whose ideals are tested by the brutality of wartime military life. Conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, he is sent to Manchuria, where he witnesses the harsh treatment of new recruits and clashes with his superiors over their cruelty toward weaker soldiers. His commitment to his principles puts him at odds with a system that demands absolute obedience.

Masaki Kobayashi directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Zenzō Matsuyama; Shigeru Wakatsuki and Kobayashi produced it through the Ninjin Club. It is the second entry in a trilogy, following The Human Condition I: No Greater Love, released the same year, and preceding The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer, which arrived in 1961. Tatsuya Nakadai leads as Kaji, with Michiyo Aratama as his wife Michiko and Kei Satō among the credited cast of thirty-eight.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 8.5 from around 8,800 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 8.2 from a much smaller base of 231 votes. The film runs just under three hours and belongs to the drama, history and war genres.