This September, an IC lecture explored how film can challenge and add nuance to existing narratives about history.
“The Human Condition: Complicating Narratives of Postwar Japanese Victimization” by Aaron Skabelund
The saying that “the only constant in the world is change” particularly applies to the narratives surrounding historical events and the people involved in them. Even a few years of passed time can recontextualize or alter the true story of an event as people gain distance and perspective. At his International Cinema presentation on September 24, 2025, Professor Aaron Skabelund (Modern Japanese History) discussed how the three-part, nine-hour Japanese film epic The Human Condition challenges the narrative that Japan was a victim of World War II.
By all historical accounts, Imperial Japan instigated several wars in the Pacific during the first half of the 20th century—facts that directly contradict the idea that Japan was a victim of those wars. To help audiences understand how this shift in perspective happened, Skabelund first dove into a bit of history.
Long before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Imperial Japan fought to extend its empire into China, Russia, and surrounding Pacific countries, Skabelund explained. These conquests continued into WWII and became the fight in the Pacific Theater. Eventually, though, Japan’s empire came to an end with the US’s victory. By that point, Japan was exhausted by 50 years of war and two atomic bombs.
When postwar trials then held only a handful of military leaders responsible for the fighting, the idea quickly spread that the Japanese people had been victimized by their government and pulled into a war they didn’t want. Skabelund said, “Many Japanese embraced defeat, even as Japan was defeated—they regarded the war as stupid, something that Japan should have never embarked in.”
However, the driving force behind Japan’s original war wasn’t the fault of only a handful of generals—it had been fueled by Japan’s imperialist cultural views, including those of citizens and soldiers. The army itself had been an authoritarian, inhumane experience that did not take kindly to the minority of soldiers with pacifist views.
We wanted so much to resist the army, that inhumane situation, but we couldn’t do a thing about that.
The Human Condition—both the original novel by Junpei Gomikawa and the film directed by Masaki Kobayashi—captures Japan’s willing aggression, standing in stark contrast to the idea that the country and its people had been unwilling participants in the fighting. Skabelund explained that both adaptations of the story were created out of Gomikawa and Kobayashi’s attempts to tell the truth about history and reconcile their dishonorable experiences in the army. Skabelund shared a quote from Kobayashi himself discussing this:
“We, Gomikawa and I, have many regrets from our youth. Scars. We wish we could’ve done things this way or that way. In our hearts, we wanted so much to resist the army, that inhumane situation, but we couldn’t do a thing about that. . . . After the war, we were able to get all that off our chests for the first time in The Human Condition.”
Gomikawa and Kobayashi created the story to show how they wish they could have resisted imperialism with humanity and honor, Skabelund explained. “This dream of making [the characters] heroes . . . Kobayashi recognizes this as a romanticization,” he continued, inviting the audience to reflect on the difficulty of seeking peace in a world that glorifies war.
As he closed, Skabelund asked audience members to consider the meaning of their humanity, especially in difficult circumstances. “As you watch, think about what it means to be human,” he said. “What does that mean to you in the world in which we live today, which seems to be taking on some of the authoritarian aspects that we see in Imperial Japan?”
Below is a selection of the other films shown during September.
Lyra (2022)
"I need more time to keep asking questions."
The 2019 murder of Northern Irish investigative journalist Lyra McKee dealt a significant blow to both Ireland and the world of journalism, leaving friends, colleagues, and the public grieving the loss of a powerful voice for justice. This documentary, directed by Alison Millar (a close friend and mentor of Lyra’s), seeks to make sense of Lyra’s death by telling Lyra’s story through her own words and recordings. A powerful piece that is both a tribute and a lesson of courage in the search for truth.
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Ballad of a Soldier (1959)
“Well, hero, tell us about what happened.”
When Russian soldier Alyosha wins a medal for single-handedly destroying two German tanks, he refuses the award and instead requests leave to go visit his mother—even though the round trip will take nearly the entire week he’s been given. On his journey from the front lines back to his hometown, he experiences firsthand the havoc that the war inflicted on the country and its people. A cinema classic that explores the range of human expressions of love and meaning during wartime.
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All We Imagine as Light (2024)
“How can you marry a stranger?”
This award-winning film by director Payal Kapadia follows the lives of roommates and fellow nurses Prabha and Anu as they grapple with their different romantic situations—Prabha’s estranged husband, who lives in Germany and hasn’t called in over a year, and Anu’s forbidden Muslim boyfriend. A compelling piece set against the backdrop of modern India that explores how culture can affect romance and love.
See what movies and films are showing next at the International Cinema’s website here.