The Human Condition on Film: Nakadai at The Museum of the Moving Image

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 14 May 2015 02:03

Written by Renzo Adler

Nakadai in The Human Condition Part I

With a career spanning decades, Tatsuya Nakadai is one of Japan’s most memorable actors, displaying everything from menacing swagger, to ruthless cunning, to nuanced introspection. Masaki Kobayashi (1916 - 1996) brought a stunning visual flair to films like the haunting Kwaidan, and the monumental Human Condition trilogy. Together, the two created visually breathtaking and hard-hitting films. Now the Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave, New York, NY) celebrates the two legends of Japanese cinema with Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai from May 15 to 24.

Presented in gorgeous 35mm, these films represent a watershed moment in post-war Japanese cinematic history, celebrating the rogues, the outsiders, the rebels going against the constraints of society. Nakadai himself will be present to discuss The Human Condition Part I on May 16 and Harakiri on May 24. According to legend, the Masaki Kobayashi discovered the young actor Tatsuya Nakadai working as a shop clerk in Tokyo and, casting him in a small part in his film The Thick-Walled Room (1953), gave Nakadai his first role, initiating one of the most legendary collaborations in all of Japanese cinema. Director Kobayashi was a pacifist who had suffered for his convictions during World War II. Summarizing his work, he said “All of my pictures are concerned with resisting entrenched power. I suppose I have always challenged authority.”

To learn more, go to: http://www.movingimage.us/films/

Portraying the Human Condition: The Films of Masaki Kobayashi and Tatsuya Nakadai
May 15 - 24

The Museum of the Moving Image
36-01 35th Ave.
New York, NY 11106

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