Ningen no jôken / The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

Part two of an anti-war trilogy based on the six-volume novel published from 1956 to 1958 by Junpei Gomikawa, Road to Eternity follows 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. His continued involvement in the military makes it difficult for Kaji to retain his pacifist views. His unit is overrun by a Soviet army onslaught that produces heavy Japanese casualties. Kaji survives the battle, but is forced to kill a maddened Japanese soldier with his bare hands in order to prevent Soviet soldiers from discovering his position. The film ends with Kaji screaming "I'm a monster, but I'm still alive!" and running in desperate search of any other Japanese survivors. The film is prequeled by No Greater Love (1959) and followed by A Soldier's Prayer (1961).