Harakiri (1962)
An elder ronin samurai arrives at a feudal lord's home and requests an honorable place to commit suicide. But when the ronin inquires about a younger samurai who arrived before him things take an unexpected turn.
Director:
Masaki Kobayashi
Writers:
Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay), Yasuhiko Takiguchi (novel)
Stars:
Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita
Story line
Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house.
User Reviews
Excellent cinematography
It's quite surprising that some old masterpieces fall easily into the oblivion. Harakiri (Seppuku) is a good example. Quite simply this is one of the best Japanese movies I've ever seen.
Everything is this movie is exceptional: the cinematography is top notch, the acting is very good, the direction is almost perfect.
Tragedy, revenge, ethics, political contents...this movie has all of these elements wrapped in an exceptional 16th century samurai environment.
The only defects I could see in this movie is that someone may feel it is slightly slow (as actually there are very few action scenes...this is not a "chambara" movie!) and the fact that it is not dubbed (at least in the Italian edition)...so you lose some of the details while reading the subtitles....that is, unless you understand Japanese.
If you like black & white Japanese movies this is definitely a must see. GREAT.
