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The Human Condition (film series)

2025-02-12T03:01:00Z

97.113.18.166:

{{Infobox film
| name = The Human Condition
| image = The Human Condition VideoCover.jpeg
| caption = [[Criterion Collection]] DVD cover art
| director = [[Masaki Kobayashi]]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* Shigeru Wakatsuki {{small|(all parts)}}
* Masaki Kobayashi {{small|(II and III only)}}
}}
| screenplay = {{Plainlist|
* Masaki Kobayashi
* [[Zenzo Matsuyama]] {{small|(all parts)}}
* Koichi Inagaki {{small|(III only)}}
}}
| based_on = ''[[The Human Condition (Gomikawa novel)|The Human Condition]]'' by [[Junpei Gomikawa]]
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tatsuya Nakadai]]
* [[Michiyo Aratama]]
}}
| music = Chuji Kinoshita
| cinematography = [[Yoshio Miyajima]]
| editing = Keiichi Uraoka
| studio = Ninjin Club
| distributor = [[Shochiku]]
| released = {{Film date|1959|1|15|I|1959|11|20|II|1961|1|28|III|df=y}}
| runtime = {{Plainlist|
* 579 minutes {{small|(all parts)}}
* 208 minutes {{small|(I)}}
* 181 minutes {{small|(II)}}
* 190 minutes {{small|(III)}}
}}
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese Mandarin Russian
| gross = Japan [[Theatrical rental|rentals]]: {{JPY|304.04 million|link=yes}} {{small|(I)}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=キネマ旬報ベスト・テン85回全史 1924-2011 |journal=[[Kinema Junpo]] |date=2012 |page=148}}</ref> {{JPY|234.79 million}} {{small|(II)}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=キネマ旬報ベスト・テン85回全史 1924-2011 |journal=[[Kinema Junpo]] |date=2012 |page=158}}</ref>
}}
{{Nihongo|'''''The Human Condition'''''|人間の條件|Ningen no jōken}} is a [[trilogy]] of Japanese [[Epic film|epic]] [[war drama film]]s co-written and directed by [[Masaki Kobayashi]], based on the [[The Human Condition (Gomikawa novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[Junpei Gomikawa]]. The films are subtitled ''[[The Human Condition I: No Greater Love|No Greater Love]]'' (1959), ''Road to Eternity'' (1959), and ''[[A Soldier's Prayer]]'' (1961).

The trilogy follows the life of Kaji, a Japanese [[pacifism|pacifist]] and [[socialism|socialist]], as he tries to survive in the [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]] and oppressive world of [[World War II]]-era Japan.

==Plot==
The [[Criterion Collection]] website summarises the plot of the film thus: "''The Human Condition'' follows the journey of the well-intentioned, yet naïve Kaji who transitions from being a labor camp supervisor to an Imperial Army soldier and eventually Soviet POW. Constantly trying to rise above a corrupt system, Kaji time and time again finds his morals an impediment rather than an advantage."<ref name="CriterionHumanCondition">{{cite web|title=The Criterion Collection: The Human Condition|url=http://www.criterion.com/films/2106-the-human-condition|website=Criterion|publisher=The Criterion Collection|access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref>

===''No Greater Love'' (1959)===
{{main article|No Greater Love (1959 film)}}
In [[World War II]]-era Japan, Kaji marries his sweetheart Michiko despite his misgivings about the future. To gain exemption from military service, he moves his wife to a large mining operation in [[Manchukuo|Japanese-colonized Manchuria]], where he serves as a labor chief assigned to a workforce of Chinese prisoners.

Kaji aggravates the camp bureaucracy by implementing humane practices to improve both labor conditions and productivity, clashing with foremen, administrators, and the [[Kenpeitai]] military police. Ultimately his efforts to grant autonomy to the POWs are undermined by scheming officials, resulting in the electrocution of several prisoners and the beheading of others accused of attempted escape. When Kaji protests the brutality, he is tortured and then drafted into the army to relieve the camp supervisors of his disruptive presence.

===''Road to Eternity'' (1959)===
Kaji, having lost his exemption from military service by protecting Chinese prisoners from unjust punishment, has now been conscripted into the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]]. Under suspicion of leftist sympathies, Kaji is assigned the toughest duties in his military recruiting class despite his excellent marksmanship and strong barracks discipline. His wife Michiko pleads for understanding in a letter to his commanding officer and later pays Kaji a highly unorthodox visit to his military facility to express her love and solidarity. Kaji considers escaping across the front with his friend Shinjo, who is similarly under suspicion due to his brother's arrest for communist activities. Distrusting the idea that desertion will lead to freedom, and being faithful to his wife, Kaji ultimately commits to continued military service despite his hardships.

When Obara, a poor-sighted, weak soldier in Kaji's unit, kills himself after troubles from home are compounded by ceaseless punishment and humiliation from other soldiers, Kaji demands disciplinary action from his superiors for [[Private first class|PFC]] Yoshida, the ring leader of the troops who pushed Obara over the brink. While Yoshida is not disciplined, Kaji helps to seal his fate by refusing to rescue the vicious soldier when both men are trapped in quicksand while in pursuit of Shinjo, who finally seized the opportunity to desert. Kaji is released from hospitalization related to the quicksand incident and is transported to the front with his unit.

Kaji is asked to lead a group of recruits and promoted to private first class. He accepts his assignment with the condition that his men will be separated from a group of veteran artillerymen, who practice intense cruelty as punishment for the slightest offenses. Often taking the punishment for his men, Kaji is personally beaten many times by these veterans, despite his relationship with Second Lieutenant Kageyama. Demoralized by the [[Battle of Okinawa|fall of Okinawa]] and continually battling with the veterans, Kaji and most of his men are sent on a month-long trench digging work detail. Their work is interrupted by a Soviet army [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria|onslaught]] that produces heavy Japanese casualties and the death of Kageyama. Forced to defend flat terrain with little fortification and a light armament, the Japanese troops are overrun by Soviet tanks, and many men are killed. Kaji survives the battle but is forced to kill a maddened Japanese soldier with his bare hands to prevent Soviet soldiers from discovering his position. The film ends with Kaji uttering "I'm a monster, but I'm going to stay alive!" and running and screaming in desperate search of any other Japanese survivors.

===''A Soldier's Prayer'' (1961)===
{{main article|A Soldier's Prayer}}
The Japanese forces having been shattered during the events of the second film, 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 surviving soldiers and 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 that is soon ambushed by Chinese peasant [[Partisan (military)|partisans]]. A prostitute to whom Kaji had shown kindness is killed by the partisans, and Kaji vows to fight them rather than 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 the [[Nationalist government|Chinese Nationalists]], whom they believe will be supported by American forces, in a [[Chinese Civil War|civil war]] against the Russian-backed [[Chinese Communist Party|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]] 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 the Soviet occupiers. 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 [[Eurasia|vast]] [[Continental climate|winter]] wasteland covered in snow.

==Cast==
[[File:Ningen no jōken 1.jpg|thumbnail|right|Tatsuya Nakadai and Michiyo Aratama in 1959.]]

* [[Tatsuya Nakadai]] as Kaji
* [[Michiyo Aratama]] as Michiko
===''No Greater Love''===
{{Cast listing|
* [[Chikage Awashima]] as Tōfuku Kin
* [[Ineko Arima]] as Shunran Yō
* [[Sō Yamamura]] as Okishima
* [[Keiji Sada]] as Kageyama
* [[Kōji Nanbara]] as Kao (as Shinji Nanbara)
* Akira Ishihama as Chen
* [[Kōji Mitsui]] as Furuya
* [[Seiji Miyaguchi]] as Wang Heng Li
* [[Eitaro Ozawa]] as Okazaki
* [[Toru Abe]] as Sergeant Watai
* [[Junkichi Orimoto]] as Sai
* Masao Mishima as Manager Kuroki
* [[Kyū Sazanka]] as Cho Meisan
* [[Eijirō Tōno]] as [[manjū]] shop proprietor
* [[Yasushi Nagata]] as Muta
* [[Yoshio Kosugi]] as Kawashima
* [[Shinsuke Ashida]] as Matsuda
* [[Toshiko Kobayashi]] as Yasuko
* [[Taiji Tonoyama]] as Huang
* [[Ryūji Kita]] as Liu
}}

===''Road to Eternity''===
{{Cast listing|
* [[Keiji Sada]] as Second Lieutenant Kageyama
* Kokinji Katsura as Private 2nd class Sasa
* Jun Tatara as Warrant Officer Hino
* Michirō Minami as Senior Private Yoshida
* [[Kei Satō]] as [[Private first class|PFC]] Shinjō
* [[Kunie Tanaka]] as Private 2nd class Obara
* [[Ryōhei Uchida (actor)|Ryōhei Uchida]] as Sergeant Hashiya
* [[Shōbun Inoue]] as PFC Akahoshi
* [[Taketoshi Naitō]] as PFC Tange
* [[Yūsuke Kawazu]] as Private 2nd class Terada
* [[Susumu Fujita]] as Private 2nd class Naruto
* [[Minoru Chiaki]] as Corporal Onodera
* [[Shōji Yasui]] as apprentice officer
* [[Fumio Watanabe]] as [[Staff (military)|staff]] officer
* [[Jun Hamamura]] as First Lieutenant Toi
* [[Akiji Kobayashi]] as Second Lieutenant Nonaka
* [[Hisashi Igawa]] as PFC Masui
}}
===''A Soldier's Prayer''===
{{Cast listing|
* [[Tamao Nakamura]] as refugee girl
* [[Yūsuke Kawazu]] as Private 2nd class Terada
* [[Chishū Ryū]] as refugee elder
* [[Taketoshi Naitō]] as PFC Tange
* [[Kyōko Kishida]] as Ryūko
* Ed Keene as Russian officer
* Ronald Self as Chapayev
* [[Nobuo Kaneko]] as Corporal Kirihara
* [[Kazuo Kitamura]] as Sergeant Major Kitago
* [[Toshio Takahara]] as corporal going to Korea
* [[Kin Sugai]] as refugee on the road
* [[Hideko Takamine]] as a refugee
}}

==Production==
The film was based upon [[Junpei Gomikawa]]'s six-part autobiographical [[The Human Condition (Gomikawa novel)|novel of the same name]], which strongly resonated with the director [[Masaki Kobayashi]]. Like the novel's protagonist, he was drafted into the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] during World War II and stationed in Japan-occupied [[Manchuria]]. Self-described as a pacifist and socialist, he had refused to rise above the rank of a private, feeling opposed to both the war and Japan's imperialist ideology at the time. Kobayashi adhered to such views for the rest of his life, always remaining critical of Japan's conformist culture.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Grilli|first1=Peter|title=Interview with Masaki Kobayashi|url=http://eigageijutsu.blogspot.com/2011/12/interview-with-masaki-kobayashi.html|website=Nihon Cine Art|access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> He later recalled in his autobiography:

<blockquote>We [Gomikawa and Kobayashi] have many regrets from our youth. Scars. We wish we could have done things this way or that way. In our hearts we wanted so much to resist the army, that inhuman institution; but we couldn't do a thing about that either. Gomikawa couldn't either, no doubt. After the war, we were able to get that all off our chests for the first time in ''Human Condition''. That's why I think of it as a dream we couldn't realize, a romanticization of resistance during our youth.<ref name="jjor">{{cite book |last1=Orr |first1=James J. |title=The Victim as Hero: Ideologies of Peace and National Identity in Postwar Japan |date=1 Apr 2001 |isbn=0824824350 |page=128 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6SgyWmXPFUoC |access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

Remembering his own experiences in the war and feeling connected to the novel's events, Kobayashi secured the rights from Gomikawa and petitioned [[Shochiku]] to approve the project. Due to the subject matter directly criticizing the actions of Japan during World War II, the studio was initially unenthusiastic about the film and only relented when Kobayashi threatened to quit.<ref name="kempphilip">{{cite web|last1=Kemp|first1=Philip|date=9 September 2009|title=The Human Condition: The Prisoner|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7415-the-human-condition-the-prisoner|access-date=15 March 2015|website=Criterion|publisher=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> During filming, Kobayashi aimed to be as faithful to Gomikawa's work as possible; he had a copy of the original novel on hand to help in this regard. If any scenes were in the book, but not the script, they would be added in when possible. The actors were usually notified of these changes a day in advance to memorize their new lines. Because of this striving for accuracy, Gomikawa was reportedly very pleased with the adaptation.<ref name=nakadai />

[[Tatsuya Nakadai]], who had previously appeared in Kobayashi's ''The Thick-Walled Room'' and ''[[Black River (1957 film)|Black River]]'', was specifically chosen by the director to play the protagonist Kaji. Much of the supporting cast were veteran film and stage actors who had previously worked with Kobayashi on other projects, or who would later become regulars with the director. The film marked Nakadai's first leading role, and he later recalled his performance as being exceptionally challenging. Certain fight scenes called for actual contact, leading to the actor's face becoming swollen. The final sequence additionally involved Nakadai lying face-down in a field, the cameras not stopping until he was completely covered in a mound of snow.<ref name=nakadai>{{cite web|last1=Nakadai|first1=Tatsuya|title=Criterion Collection Interview with Tatsuya Nakadai|location=Found on the Criterion Collection's DVD release of ''The Human Condition''}}</ref>

As opposed to hiring Shochiku staff, the crew from the independent studio Ninjin Club were used instead. Kobayashi utilized cinematographer [[Yoshio Miyajima]] for the film, having been an admirer of his work for director [[Fumio Kamei]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shinoda|first1=Masahiro|title=Directors Guild of Japan video interview with Masaki Kobayashi, conducted by Masahiro Shinoda|location=Found on the Criterion Collection's DVD release of ''The Human Condition''}}</ref> Despite featuring extensive dialogue in [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], none of the actors were actually [[Chinese people|Chinese]]. These lines were spoken [[phonetically]] with accompanying burnt-in Japanese subtitles on all prints. Non-Japanese and [[Russian people|Russians]] were seemingly used for the roles of Soviet soldiers, though only Ed Keene and Ronald Self are credited. Due to the non-existent [[China–Japan relations]] at the time, Kobayashi scouted out filming locations in [[Hokkaido]] for the Manchurian setting over two months. Including pre-production, ''The Human Condition'' took four years to complete.<ref name=nakadai />

==Release==
Noted for its length, ''The Human Condition'' runs at nine hours, and thirty-nine minutes (579 minutes) and would be the longest film in Kobayashi's career.

The film was released as a trilogy in Japan between 1959 and 1961, while shown at various film festivals internationally. All-night marathons of the entire trilogy were occasionally shown in Japan; screenings with Tatsuya Nakadai in attendance typically sold out.<ref name=nakadai /> In 1999, [[RLJE Films|Image Entertainment]] released ''The Human Condition'' on three separate Region 0 DVDs. These discs were criticised for their image and sound quality and translation.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Human Condition DVD Comparison|url=http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/the_human_condition.htm|website=DVD Beaver|access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> On 8 September 2009, [[The Criterion Collection]] released the entire trilogy with restored image, new translation and supplements.<ref name="CriterionHumanCondition"/> [[Arrow Video]] released a dual-format (Blu-ray and DVD) edition of ''The Human Condition'' in September 2016. This release included an introduction and select scene commentary by film critic Philip Kemp and supplements, including a booklet with new writing by film scholar [[David Desser]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Human Condition Blu-ray|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=18435|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=12 February 2016}}</ref>

==Reception and legacy==
While the trilogy earned considerable controversy at the time of its release in Japan, ''The Human Condition'' was critically acclaimed, won several international awards, and established Masaki Kobayashi as one of the most important Japanese directors of the generation.<ref name=kempphilip />

The British film critic [[David Shipman (writer)|David Shipman]] described the trilogy in his 1983 book, ''The Story of Cinema'', as "unequivocally the greatest film ever made".<ref>{{cite book | last = Shipman | first = David | title = The Story of Cinema: A Complete Narrative History from the Beginnings to the Present | publisher = St. Martin's Press | location = New York | date = 1982 | page = [https://archive.org/details/storyofcinema00davi/page/984 984] | isbn = 0312762798 | url = https://archive.org/details/storyofcinema00davi/page/984}}</ref> In his review for ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 2008, [[A. O. Scott]] declared: "Kobayashi's monumental film can clarify and enrich your understanding of what it is to be alive".<ref>A. O. Scott [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18huma.html?_r=0 "Cry the High-Minded Hero in Brutal Japanese-Occupied Manchuria"], ''New York Times'', 18 July 2008</ref> Critic Philip Kemp, in his essay written for [[The Criterion Collection]]'s release of the trilogy, argues that while "the film suffers from its sheer magnitude [and] from the almost unrelieved somberness of its prevailing mood ... ''The Human Condition'' stands as an achievement of extraordinary power and emotional resonance: at once a celebration of the resilience of the individual conscience and a purging of forced complicity in guilt (of a nation and, as the title implies, of the whole human race)".<ref name=kempphilip />

In 2021, David Mermelstein of [[The Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]] writes positively of the trilogy: "What's astonishing is the way that Kobayashi juggles the complicated narrative, with its panoply of incidents and significant characters (friends, nemeses and everything in between), so that clarity is never compromised".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mermelstein |first=David |date=2021-06-08 |title='The Human Condition' Review: A Japanese Epic in High-Def |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-human-condition-review-a-japanese-epic-in-high-def-11623187343 |access-date=2022-01-21 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

At the [[21st Venice International Film Festival]], the film won the San Giorgio Prize and Pasinetti Award.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.shochiku.co.jp/global/en/cinema/award/ |title=Internationally |website=[[Shochiku]] |access-date=December 30, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241223154915/https://www.shochiku.co.jp/global/en/cinema/award/ |archive-date=December 23, 2024}}</ref>

==See also==
[[Men and War (film series)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q110818465|title=No Greater Love}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q115536959|title=The Road to Eternity}}
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q4659647|title=A Soldier's Prayer}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1226-the-human-condition-the-prisoner ''The Human Condition: The Prisoner''] an essay by Philip Kemp at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Masaki Kobayashi}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Condition, The}}
[[Category:Japanese epic films]]
[[Category:Japanese war films]]
[[Category:Existentialist films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Masaki Kobayashi]]
[[Category:Japanese film series]]
[[Category:Film series based on novels]]
[[Category:Films based on Japanese novels]]
[[Category:Second Sino-Japanese War films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Masaki Kobayashi]]
[[Category:Films set in Manchukuo]]
[[Category:Films released in separate parts]]
[[Category:Japanese World War II films]]
[[Category:1950s Japanese films]]

The Passion of Anna

2025-01-25T03:42:37Z

97.113.18.166:

{{short description|1969 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
|name = The Passion of Anna
|image = The Passion of Anna poster.jpg
|caption = Theatrical film poster
|director = [[Ingmar Bergman]]
|producer = [[Lars-Owe Carlberg]]
|writer = Ingmar Bergman
|starring = {{Plainlist|
*[[Max von Sydow]]
*[[Liv Ullmann]]
*[[Bibi Andersson]]
*[[Erland Josephson]] }}
|music =
|cinematography = [[Sven Nykvist]]
|editing = [[Siv Lundgren]]
|distributor = [[United Artists]]
|released = {{Film date|1969|11|10|df=yes}}
|runtime = 101 minutes
|country = Sweden
|language = Swedish
|budget =
}}
'''''The Passion of Anna''''' ({{langx|sv|'''En passion'''}} – "A passion") is a 1969 Swedish [[drama]] film written and directed by [[Ingmar Bergman]], who was awarded [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director|Best Director]] at the [[1970 National Society of Film Critics Awards]] for the film.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |access-date=9 June 2017}}</ref>

==Plot==
The audience is introduced to Andreas Winkelman, a man living alone and emotionally desolate after the recent breakdown of his marriage. A neighbour, Anna, arrives and asks permission to use his phone. She walks with the aid of a cane. (It is later revealed that her husband and son died as a result of her driving off the road.) While Anna uses Andreas' phone, he eaves-drops on her conversation, after which she departs in tears. Anna has left her handbag behind and Andreas looks through it, finding and reading a letter from her husband that reveals that he is unhappy in their marriage and fearful for possible "psychological and physical violence".

The narrative of the film is periodically interrupted by brief footage of each of the four main actors being interviewed (by an unseen Bergman) about their role-characters.

Andreas takes the handbag to where Anna is living and is greeted at the door by the married couple, Eva and Elis, who are also in the midst of psychological turmoil. Elis is an internationally successful architect and amateur photographer who has an extensive archive of portraits categorised according to emotional states. Elis offers to take pictures of Andreas, to which he agrees.

One night while Elis is away, Eva visits Andreas, as she is bored and lonely and finds it hard to sleep. They listen to music and drink wine, which makes her drowsy. Andreas tucks her up on the sofa and she sleeps for some hours. After she awakes they become intimate and go to bed, although this is hardly shown. Afterwards she explains that during her only pregnancy years ago, she went to the hospital to seek treatment for insomnia. There she was mistakenly injected with an excessive dose, which resulted in the death of the child in her womb. She mentions that she and Elis both wept after this, and it is the only time she has seen him weep.

Elis photos Andreas. Elis agrees to organise the validation of a bank-loan sought by Andreas and gives him a typing task in order to help Andreas have the funds to pay back the loan. Eva arrives and when left alone with Andreas for a moment, warns him to be "careful" as regards Anna. Elis comes back and Eva asks him why he has a nasty look. He says that he only gets upset by trivialities.

Andreas and Anna are now living together at his house. Anna appears zealous in her faith and steadfast in her search for truth but gradually her delusions come to the surface. She describes a dream of hers, which seems to follow the events of ''[[Shame (1968 film)|Shame]]'', where she emerges on an island helpless, witness to the horrors of war. For his part Andreas is unable to overcome his feelings of anxiety and disconnection, further dooming his relationship with Anna.

Throughout the film, an unknown person on the island is committing acts of animal cruelty, hanging a dog in a tree and violently killing sheep. A neighbour of Andreas (a loner who some regard as mentally disturbed) is suspected of these crimes. He commits suicide and the police bring a letter to Andreas where the poor man describes how he was beaten and humiliated by a group of men, after which he did not wish to continue living.

One day Anna picks an argument with Andreas as he is chopping wood, causing him to lose control and, raising the axe, plunges it into the wooden wall close to her head. We don't know whether he really intended to kill her, as she screams and dodges it. At any rate, he proceeds to slap her around. Afterwards, as Anna lies in bed, two fire engines rush past the house, sirens wailing. Andreas follows them to the scene of the fire - a farm with livestock. When Andreas arrives he is told that the perpetrator has struck again, this time dousing a horse in petrol and locking it in and setting fire to the stable. The horse was burnt to death. It is now clear that Andreas' friend was innocent and unjustly persecuted.

Anna shows up at the fire in her car. Andreas gets in. Anna drives but says nothing. Andreas insists they should speak the truth to each other. He reveals that he read the letter Anna's husband wrote, so he knows that she has lied about their being happy together. Anna appears to speed up the car. He asks if she is planning to kill him like she killed her husband and son. She drives off the road but he manages to lean across and help stop the car safely. Anna remains silent and Andreas tells her she is out of her mind, that they don't love each other, and that they should part ways. At last, he asks her why she picked him up at the fire and Anna replies: "I came to ask for forgiveness." Andreas gets out of the car and she drives away. In a long shot we see him pace back and forth. As the long shot pulls in to an increasingly grainy close-up, we see Andreas fall to his knees, and, as the screen turns to white, a voice-over states: "This time he was named Andreas Winkelman." The End.

==Cast==
{{castlist|
*[[Max von Sydow]] as Andreas Winkelman
*[[Liv Ullmann]] as Anna Fromm
*[[Bibi Andersson]] as Eva Vergerus
*[[Erland Josephson]] as Elis Vergerus
*[[Erik Hell]] as Johan Andersson
*[[Sigge Fürst]] as Verner
*[[Britta Brunius]] as Woman in dream
*[[Lars-Owe Carlberg]] as Police officer
*[[Malin Ek]] as Woman in dream
*[[Barbro Hiort af Ornäs]] as Woman in dream
*[[Svea Holst]] as Verner's wife
*[[Marianne Karlbeck]] as Woman in dream
*[[Annika Kronberg]] as Katarina
*[[Brita Öberg]] as Woman in dream
*[[Brian Wikström]] as Police officer
*[[Ingmar Bergman]] as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
*[[Hjördis Petterson]] as Johan's sister (uncredited)
}}

==Production==
The film has its origins in Bergman's 1968 film ''[[Shame (1968 film)|Shame]]'', also starring Ullmann and Von Sydow. After shooting of ''Shame'' completed, [[Fårö]]'s environmental regulations required the house built for the film be burned, but Bergman had developed an attachment to its appearance and saved it by claiming there were plans to use it in another film.<ref name="Gado377">Frank Gado, ''The Passion of Ingmar Bergman'', Duke University Press, 1986, p. 377.</ref> He began writing ''The Passion of Anna'', and with Von Sydow and Ullmann still contracted to work with him, envisioned ''The Passion of Anna'' as "virtually a sequel."<ref name="Gado377"/>

==Themes==
Author Jerry Vermilye wrote that in exploring "the thread of violence intruding on ordinary lives," ''[[Hour of the Wolf]]'' (1968), ''Shame'' and ''The Passion of Anna'' represent a trilogy.<ref>Jerry Vermilye, ''Ingmar Bergman: His Life and Films'', McFarland & Company, Inc., 2002, p. 133.</ref> Author Amir Cohen-Shalev concurred the films form a trilogy.<ref name="Cohen">Amir Cohen-Shalev, ''Both Worlds at Once: Art in Old Age'', University Press of America, 2002, p. 138.</ref> Cohen-Shalev wrote that, like ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]'' and ''Shame'', ''The Passion of Anna'' follows an "artist as fugitive" theme touching on issues of guilt and self-hatred.<ref name="Cohen"/>

==Reception==
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''The Passion of Anna'' garnered [[List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes|100% approval]] among 15 critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_passion_of_anna/|title=The Passion of Anna (En Passion) (1970)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media]]|access-date=11 March 2021}}</ref> [[Vincent Canby]] argued that "it does seem designed more for the indefatigable Bergman cryptologists (of which I am not one) than for interested, but uncommitted filmgoers", but praised its lead actors' performances and wrote that "Bergman gives each of them extraordinary moments of cinematic truth, monologues of sustained richness and drama".<ref>{{cite news|title=Movie Review - THE PASSION OF ANNA|last=Canby|first=Vincent|authorlink=Vincent Canby|date=29 May 1970|page=12}}</ref> The film was included in "''The New York Times'' Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made" in 2002.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html|title=The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made|newspaper=The New York Times|year=2002|access-date=7 December 2013|archive-date=25 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125182040/http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/1000best.html}}</ref>

The film is not considered one of Bergman's greatest works, but retrospective evaluations are still positive. Sam Jordison wrote for [[Film4]], "While it lacks the lightness of touch and smooth flow that distinguishes Bergman at his finest, this is still a powerful, profound work of art."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.film4.com/reviews/1969/en-passion|title=En Passion|last=Jordison|first=Sam|publisher=Channel Four Television Corporation|access-date=15 January 2017}}</ref>
Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars and included it in his Top 10 of 1970.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0064793|The Passion of Anna}}
*{{Sfdb title}}
* ''[https://archive.org/details/FourStories1 Four Stories by Ingmar Bergman]'' (contains ''The Passion of Anna'')

{{Ingmar Bergman}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passion Of Anna, The}}
[[Category:1969 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Ingmar Bergman]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ingmar Bergman]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sweden]]
[[Category:Swedish drama films]]
[[Category:1960s Swedish-language films]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:1960s Swedish films]]
[[Category:1969 drama films]]

The Diamond Arm

2025-01-24T05:37:07Z

97.113.18.166:

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox film
|name = The Diamond Arm
|image = Brilruka.jpg
|caption = Film poster
|director = [[Leonid Gaidai]]
|producer =
|writer = Moris Slobodskoy Yakov Kostyukovsky Leonid Gaidai
|narrator =
|starring = [[Yuri Nikulin]] [[Nina Grebeshkova]] [[Nonna Mordyukova]] [[Stanislav Chekan]] [[Vladimir Gulyaev]] [[Andrei Mironov (actor)|Andrei Mironov]] [[Anatoli Papanov]] [[Svetlana Svetlichnaya]]
|music = [[Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
|cinematography = [[Igor Chernykh]]
|editing = Valentina Yankovskaya
|distributor = [[Mosfilm]]
|released = {{Film date|1969|04|28|df=yes}}
|runtime = 100 minutes
|country = Soviet Union
|language = Russian
|budget =
|gross =
}}
'''''The Diamond Arm''''' ({{langx|ru|Бриллиантовая рука}} ''Brilliantovaya ruka'') is a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[crime comedy film]] made by [[Mosfilm]] and first released in 1969. The film was directed by director [[Leonid Gaidai]] and starred several famous Soviet actors, including [[Yuri Nikulin]], [[Andrei Mironov (actor)|Andrei Mironov]], [[Anatoli Papanov]], [[Nonna Mordyukova]] and [[Svetlana Svetlichnaya]]. ''The Diamond Arm'' has become a Russian [[cult film]] and is considered by many Russian contemporaries to be one of the finest comedies of all time. It was also one of [[List of highest-grossing films in the Soviet Union|the all-time leaders at the Soviet box office]] with over 76,700,000 theatre admissions in the [[History of the Soviet Union|Soviet era]]. The plot of the film was based on a real-life news item about Swiss smugglers who tried to transport jewels in an orthopedic cast.

==Plot==
The boss of a [[black market]] ring (known only as "The Chief") wants to smuggle a batch of jewelry from a foreign state into the Soviet Union by hiding it inside the [[orthopedic cast]] of a courier. The Chief sends a minor henchman named Gennadiy 'Gesha' Kozodoyev (played by Mironov) to serve as the courier. Kozodoyev travels to [[Turkey]] via a tourist cruise ship. The local co-conspirators do not know what the courier looks like; they only know that he is supposed to say a code word to identify himself. Due to a mix-up, they mistake Kozodoyev's fellow passenger from the cruise ship, the "ordinary Soviet citizen" Semyon Gorbunkov (played by Nikulin) for the courier. They place a cast around his arm and put the contraband jewels inside the cast. Upon the cruise ship's return to the Soviet Union, Gorbunkov lets the police know what happened, and the police captain, who is working undercover as a taxi driver, uses Gorbunkov as bait to catch the criminals. Gesha and Lyolik (another of Chief's henchmen, played by Papanov) attempt to lure Gorbunkov into situations where they can quietly, without a [[wetwork]], remove the cast and reclaim the contraband jewels.

On one such occasion, Gesha invites Gorbunkov to a fancy restaurant with the intention of getting Gorbunkov drunk enough for Lyolik to subdue him. However, both Gesha and Gorbunkov become drunk and Gorbunkov is taken home by the police after he and Gesha cause a scene. Gorbunkov's wife begins to suspect either that he has been recruited by foreign intelligence after finding a large amount of money and a gun loaded with [[Blank (cartridge)|blanks]] in Gorbunkov's possession (previously given to him by the police), or that he is having an affair. Gorbunkov explains that he is working with the Soviet police on a secret mission, but cannot divulge any details. The Chief sends Anna Sergeyevna, a female operative, to help retrieve the cast. Anna Sergeyevna invites Gorbunkov to her hotel room under the pretense of wanting to sell Gorbunkov a gown and spikes his drink with a sleeping pill. As Gorbunkov is about to pass out, his building's nosy superintendent who had followed Gorbunkov brings his wife into the hotel room before either Lyolik or the police can get to him.

Gorbunkov awakens the next morning to find that his wife has assumed that his story was all a cover up for an [[affair]], and has left with the children. The police in the meantime have deduced that Gesha is involved with the smuggling scheme surrounding the cast, and ask Gorbunkov to mention to Gesha that he is planning to travel to another city and will have his cast removed there. Gesha reports this to the Chief, who sends Lyolik disguised as a taxi driver to pick up Gorbunkov. Gorbunkov assumes that Lyolik is also an undercover policeman, and gives away the fact that he has been in contact with the police the entire time. Lyolik plays along and tells Gorbunkov that he has been authorized to remove the cast a day early at a safehouse along the way to Dubrovka. As Lyolik is about to remove the cast, Gorbunkov deduces that Lyolik is actually a criminal and attempts to escape. Lyolik and Gesha chase Gorbunkov and with the help of the Chief himself, they capture Gorbunkov. Upon removing Gorbunkov's cast, they realize that the police had removed the diamonds in the cast a long time ago. The criminals kidnap Gorbunkov and attempt to flee as the police track them down in a helicopter and capture them. Gorbunkov is reunited with his family, with the police having explained the situation to his wife. Gorbunkov goes on vacation with his family, albeit now with a broken leg as a result of the kidnapping.

==Cast==
* [[Yuri Nikulin]], Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov, an economist at the State Institute for the Planning of Fisheries<ref name="Максим Никулин">{{Cite web |url=https://story.ru/istorii-znamenitostej/lichnoe-delo/lyubimyy-po-klichke-balbes/ |title=Любимый по кличке Балбес |lang=ru |author=Смирнов К.|publisher=Радио STORY FM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107160311/https://story.ru/istorii-znamenitostej/lichnoe-delo/lyubimyy-po-klichke-balbes/ |archive-date=2021-01-07 |access-date=2020-12-13}}</ref>
* [[Nina Grebeshkova]], Nadia, Gorbunkov's wife
* [[Andrei Mironov (actor)|Andrei Mironov]], Gennadiy Kozodoyev, aka Gesha, a model, Chief's assistant
* [[Anatoli Papanov]], Lyolik, Chief's assistant, an auto mechanic and a tough guy with Belarusian accent
* [[Nonna Mordyukova]], Varvara Pliushch, upravdom (building superintendent)
* [[Svetlana Svetlichnaya]], Anna Sergeyevna, a [[femme fatale]]<ref name="Толбузина">{{Cite web |url=https://ria.ru/20111007/451754546.html |title=А нам всё равно! «Бриллиантовой руке» исполнилось 500 месяцев |lang=ru|date=2011-10-07 |publisher=[[РИА Новости]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121225954/https://ria.ru/20111007/451754546.html |archive-date=2021-01-21 |access-date=2021-01-15}}</ref>
* [[Stanislav Chekan]], Mikhail Ivanovich, Captain, then Major of [[militsiya]]
* [[Vladimir Gulyaev]], Volodya, Lieutenant of [[militsiya]]/Volodya's twin
* [[Andrei Fajt]], salesman of lottery tickets, visitor of the restaurant "Weeping willow"
* [[Nikolay Trofimov]], Colonel of [[militsiya]]
* Nikolay Romanov, Chief of crime gang
* [[Alexander Khvylya]], Boris Savelyevich, maitre d'hotel of the restaurant "Weeping Willow"
* Tatyana Nikulina, tour guide<ref name="Максим Никулин"/>
* Maksim Nikulin, boy with a net (not credited)<ref name="Максим Никулин"/>
* [[Grigory Shpigel]], head smuggler in Turkey
* [[Leonid Kanevsky]], head smuggler's assistant
* [[Leonid Gaidai]], alcoholic and the hand that chokes Kozodoyev in his dream (uncredited)
* [[Igor Yasulovich]], dog owner
* [[Roman Filippov]], visitor from [[Kolyma]]
* Viktoria Ostrovskaya, prostitute

==Production==
American cars can be spotted in the Oriental city street scenes (which were actually shot in [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]], USSR): a 1954 [[Chevrolet 210]], a 1955 [[Buick]] and a 1951 [[Oldsmobile 88|Oldsmobile Super 88]]. This would have been an extremely rare sighting because the United States had sanctions on the USSR and did not sell cars within the [[Eastern Bloc]].

The ship docked at the beginning which Yuri Nikulin’s character boarded at port was actually the 1938 German built [[:de:Patria (Schiff, 1938)|MS Rossyia]]'; formerly the MS Patria of Hamburg - America Line with the fictitious name ‘Mikhail Svetlov’ (after the poet) is seen on its hull when leaving port.

==Soundtrack==
{{external media
| topic =
| float = right
| width = 300px
| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goFIxxWru78 ''The Island of Bad Luck''] Gesha presents "the new hit" to Semyon Semyonovich}}
;The Island of Bad Luck
The ironic "Ostrov nevezeniya" ({{Langx|ru|Остров невезения|lit=The Island of Bad Luck}}) became popular after the film's release. It was sung in the movie by the Kozodoyev during the cruise as he strums a guitar while relaxing on the ship's deck. The song is thematic, as it presages the bad luck that Kozodoyev experiences throughout the entire film. The song was recorded by Mironov himself. This is not uncommon, as many Russian actors of that time were proficient in singing, as well as dancing.

;The Song About Hares
The metaphorical "Pesnya pro zaytsev" ({{Langx|ru|Песня про зайцев|lit=Song About Hares}}) also became a popular song during the late 1960s. It tells the story of a group of personified [[hare]]s harvesting a mythological ''tryn'' herb (in Russian: ''tryn-trava'') at night and proclaiming that they are not afraid of any predators, be they wolves or owls. The hares boldly sing a refrain which begins with "We don't care!" ("A нам всё равно!"), which is actually the meaning of "tryn-trava". The song was performed in the movie by the protagonist Semyon Gorbunkov after a heavy dose of [[vodka]] at the [[restaurant]].<ref name="водка">{{Cite web |url=https://style.rbc.ru/impressions/5d0bce619a794760489894b9 |title=10 советских фильмов с забавными деталями, о которых вы не знали |lang=ru |author=Рудевич И. |date=2019-06-21 |publisher=[[РБК]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110160624/https://style.rbc.ru/impressions/5d0bce619a794760489894b9 |archive-date=2021-01-10 |access-date=2021-01-10}}</ref> Later, the scene was even depicted on a [[Postage stamp|stamp]] dedicated to the actor [[Yuri Nikulin]]. Recorded by Nikulin himself.

;Help Me
The third and final popular song from this film was "Pomogi mne" ({{Langx|ru|Помоги мне|lit=Help Me}}) as performed by [[Aida Vedishcheva]], a Soviet era singer best known for her performance of songs for films produced in the 1960s. The [[Tango music|tango]]-styled parodic song is about love and passion, and is played in the background during a scene when a femme fatale hired by the Chief's henchmen attempts to seduce and drug Gorbunkov.

==See also==
* [[:ru:Небриллиантовая рука |The Undiamond Arm]] (2024)

== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{YouTube|B-iVfLX2tvY|''The Diamond Arm'' (full movie in HD)|link=no}} (official upload by [[Mosfilm]])
* {{IMDb title|0062759}}
* [http://video.kylekeeton.com/2010/03/russian-video-diamond-arm-movie.html The Diamond Arm (with English subtitles)]
{{Authority control}}

{{Leonid Gaidai}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond Arm}}
[[Category:Slapstick films]]
[[Category:Mosfilm films]]
[[Category:1960s Soviet films]]
[[Category:1960s Russian-language films]]
[[Category:1960s crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Leonid Gaidai]]
[[Category:Films scored by Aleksandr Zatsepin]]
[[Category:Films set in Istanbul]]
[[Category:Films set in Russia]]
[[Category:Films set in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Films shot in Baku]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow]]
[[Category:Films shot in Moscow Oblast]]
[[Category:Films shot in Sochi]]
[[Category:Soviet crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Russian-language crime comedy films]]
[[Category:Soviet adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Russia]]
[[Category:1960s heist films]]
[[Category:1969 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Russian gangster films]]
[[Category:Films set on boats]]