Kobayashi Masaki's films criticized the cruelty of unchecked power. They show that authorities usually force the people to compromise their morals and sacrifice a part of themselves for the benefit of a greater organization or cause. The authorities use coercive tactics such as beating and kidnapping to carry out their masters' orders and to advance their own positions. These leaders merely need to maintain a pristine reputation among their superiors in order to keep their positions, and these superiors were typically far removed from the situation and aloof, making them unresponsive to the plight of the people. In his ten hour World War II epic The Human Condition, Kobayashi portrays a man named Kaji who is trying to bring justice into managing the workers. The military gives Kaji command of a portion of workers in an ore mine because he had written that production would increase if the workers were given better working conditions and a role in the decision-making process. If the managers negotiated with the workers rationally and treated them reasonably, there would be increased motivation and morale among the workers which would manifest itself in increased production. Kaji has difficulty putting his theory into practice because he is given command of a work unit composed of enslaved prisoners of war, and no amount of rational negotiation would allow them to forget their captivity. When Kaji is forced to witness the execution of some prisoners of war who were falsely accused of attempting to escape, he realizes that he cannot sit idly by while such injustice is carried out. His vocal opposition to the execution soon turns into a loud protest from the other prisoners of war, and fear causes the authorities to stop the execution. Kaji is forced into military service and can only hope that men will have their freedom soon.
Kobayashi criticized authority for suppressing people's individual decisions, adding that forcing individuals to go against their inclinations actually damages an organization. In Samurai Rebellion, for example, a strong samurai revolts and kills many of his master's soldiers because his master kidnaps his son's wife, suppressing their “beautiful love” that he would defend at any cost. In Seppuku, a lord does not permit a samurai a few days rest before committing suicide, and as a result his father gets revenge by defiling the lord's honor and defeating many of his men. Incurring the people's wrath by suppressing their freedom and forcing them to act against their inclinations proved to be damaging to these samurai lords, who were severely damaged by revolts against their cruel leadership. In The Human Condition, Kaji admits that better food and better living quarters would motivate the workers, but says that treating them like slaves and profiting off of their labor crushes their spirit more. Even though the Japanese give women to the prisoners of war to satisfy their bodily lust and to give them an incentive to work, this does not prevent them from attempting escapes, since freedom is what they truly desire. Beatings and executions only increase their desire to escape from this work, and “no matter what, they'll manage to escape” if they want to. When Kaji becomes a prisoner of war himself at a Soviet labor camp, he admits that “socialism is better than fascism,” but he still has reason to criticize the Soviets for treating individuals poorly in the interest of the higher organization. Even though the Soviets are responsive to prisoner complaints and try to stop beatings, they still direct orders from the top down and do not rationally negotiate with the prisoners to make policy. While the Soviets say that they must destroy human lives out of necessity, Kaji cannot condone any act of exploitation because it “forms a breeding ground of distrust that can't be wiped out.” Even though the Soviets believe that forcing conformity on the group is necessary for their survival, Kaji believes that suppressing an individual's morality is wrong in every situation because of the resentment it engenders, which ultimately damages morale and decreases productivity.
Kaji's inability to cope with his positions of authority shows that Kobayashi has a pessimistic view on whether the cruel authorities can simply be replaced with good men. While many of the leaders recognize Kaji's passion and put him into positions of authority, Kaji is unable to fulfill the role because it requires him to enforce orders from above that he typically does not agree with. His friend tries to convince him that accepting a leadership role in the government would allow him to “lead the sheep to greener pastures,” but he cannot keep his position or move up because he would have to defend the unjust actions of his superiors to do so. No good men would be able to tolerate the “conflict between work and self” that comes with a position of authority. In other words, the system is such that only cruel men who can enforce orders that are against their morals flourish in positions of power.
In Kobayashi's films, the only method of combating unjust authorities is to expose their misdeeds and compromise the security of their positions, but the higher authorities are typically so far removed from the situation that they are unwilling to expose any misconduct under them. In Samurai Rebellion, when the main character shows insubordination, the lord fears what would happen “if the other clans hear” of his breach of etiquette. While other samurai agree that the kidnapping is intolerable, they still follow the tyrannical ruler's directives because of his power, which is so absolute that they would not dare to try “pushing their thoughts through.” The main character cannot expose the lord's cruelty on his own because people were not free to leave the domain to possibly appeal to the Tokugawa in Edo. In Seppuku, the main character puts a lord and his samurai to shame and damages the lord's reputation among his own men, but this does not compromise the lord's position because he is backed by the power of the distant central authority. With the Tokugawa emblem symbolically looming in the background, the lord is able to keep the entire shameful incident secret from his peers and masters, so his position of authority is secure and there is no check to his cruelty.
Beyond his criticism of unchecked authority, Kobayashi explores methods of self-management of the lower classes in The Human Condition. When Kaji is given charge of a group of miners, he lets them choose leaders among themselves who will take part in the decision-making process. Allowing the workers to choose their own representatives is the first step that Kaji takes to introduce democracy and self-rule within his work unit. The Soviets also use this strategy, employing a Japanese representative to convey their orders so that the workers will feel as if the leaders are responsive to their concerns, which will boost their morale and productivity. When Kaji is promoted to private first class and is given control of a military unit, his compassion and concern toward the recruits led one of them say that “we feel safer with you here.” This shows that humane treatment and decision-making through dialogue and negotiation boosts the workers' spirits to a significant extent. In addition, when one of the characters says that “punishment should be per regulations,” Kobayashi is saying that arbitrary punishment is disruptive and disheartening when it is at the authorities' own discretion and the predetermined procedures and rules are unclear.
These films emphasize the irrationality of absolute authority and unchecked power. Kobayashi goes so far as to claim that any action which forces an individual to go against his morals or inclinations is wrong since it involves suffering and resentment which is significant to that individual. This violation of free will can only be eliminated if the authorities' directives are optional. Under coercive monopolies, threatening the leader's position by exposing his misdeeds and ruining his reputation among his peers and superiors is the only way to make authorities do the right thing. Even this is shown to be ineffective because the decision-makers are typically far off or disconnected from the actual situation at the local level. All of this destroys the workers' spirits and causes them to engage in protest and sabotage, which radically decreases efficiency. Kaji attempts to solve this problem and unleash the productive potential of the workers by granting them elements of self-governance, but the effectiveness of these reforms cannot be measured due to the fact that Kaji would quickly lose his positions of power as a result of moral indignation toward a peer or superior. Kaji is never able to experience Japan's transformation into “a country...where men are free,” although his hope for such freedom is never extinguished.
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