Harakiri

"Harakiri" ("Seppuku") (Japanese, 1962): It is the 17th century. A young Samurai warrior arrives at a mansion, asking to perform his ritual death there. In a series of flashbacks, we learn who he is, why he came, and what has occurred since. Although quietly told by another ex-warrior (about whom we also learn more), this is an interesting story that builds in complexity and tension. Debates about rituals and appearances may at first seem to hold more significance in old Japan than in the contemporary United States, but it is not difficult to translate and implement such thoughts. Love, honor, duty, family, children, saving "face", determination, desperation…they all exist in OUR everyday lives. Dramatically photographed in beautiful black & white, given a strong Japanese score, and paced so that even the mildly patient will be glad they saw it, "Harakiri" is epically huge, and a must-see for story & film lovers.

The story of a Samurai, who requests to commit harakiri.

I have read many of the reviews with a great deal of respect, many have such an understanding of the culture, and a very deep understanding of the content of the film, for my ignorance I come here as a novice, with no understanding, so from my viewpoint, I'm watching a film I've been told I'd love. I've seen one samurai film prior to this.

First off, I had to check it was actually made in 1962, it felt way more advanced than that, the concepts and production.

I thoroughly engaged with it, the story was fascinating, and where I expected it to tell a general story, the focus was pretty much on one single character, Hanshiro Tsugumo.

Some of the pacing me be hard for some, the long drawn out scenes, I find very purposeful. The music is engaging, the acting terrific.

I wasn't surprised to learn that the swords and multitude of blades used in this movie were real, and that I think is one of the film's most successfully aspects, its authentic, a story presented in a very real fashion.

It's a powerful story, 9/10.

When I first saw this movie, I did not know much about it. I saw it for a class so I was given a little background of the time period. In fact I was pretty much just told this:

This movie takes place during the time where many Samurai were left ronins, or masterless. These samurai were unable to find work and thereby were left in poverty. Eventually many would go up to clans and ask to commit seppuku.

It was dishonorable to refuse such a "noble" request, but most clans did not want samurai to kill themselves on their property so they would just pay the samurai to go elsewhere.

So I watched the movie and well... I loved it. During the class discussion the next day I found most people hated the movie. Not because it was a bad movie, but because of how it made people feel about themselves. And that's exactly why this movie is genius. If you're interested in watching this movie, do not read the summary in detail - reading the summary in detail will deprive you of what one of the key things that made the movie great IMO.

The generation that came after the renown Japanese directors Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi is generally regarded as less talented. The main representatives of this generation are Kaneto Shindo, Kon Ichikawa en Masaki Kobayshi. Personally I would like to make an exception for Masaki Kobayashi, who is in my opinion the equal of Kurosawa, Ozu and Muzoguchi.

Kobayashi is best known in the West for his ghost stories "Kwaidan" (1964). The rest of his repertoire, among which the samurai movie "Harakiri" (1962), is not to be sneezed at either.

A samurai movie is usually seen as a sort of Western of the East. Main ingredients of the Western genre are action and the battle beween the law (good) and the villains (bad).

In "Harakiri" (which literal translation is: hara = belly , kiri = cutting) in stead of the law there is the samurai code of honor (Bushido in Japanese). But this code of honor is not the good element of the film. Rather it is revealed as a force of ruthlessness and hypocrisy. In the film the Bushido is represented by the Li clan.

In "Harakiri" there is also little action. Only towards the end there is something that can be seen as a "shoot out". But in this shoot out the evil is not overcome, but only revealed as shallow (the idol of the Li clan is shown to be an empty armor).

Translated in Western movie genres "Harakiri" is therefore no Western. Maybe it can be categorised as a Court room drama. The heart of the film consists of main character Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) telling his sad story. This story is in essence a requisitor against the Bushido. The performance of Nakadai as a broken Tsugumo is brilliant. His requisitor is not only aimed at the Li clan, but also against his own past. Once Tsugumo also was a samurai.

Kobayashi was a convinced humanist all his life. Apart from "Harakiri" he also made the 9,5 hours epos "The human condition" (1959-1961). This epos is situated in World War II. For Kobayashi kamikaze was just another form of Harakiri and thus just another utterance of the old Bushido.

This film is the purest distillation of the spirit of Greek tragedy ever put on celluloid. Yes, this is a review of Seppuku, a Japanese film released in 1962. Perhaps it took a non-Westerner, free of all of the cultural baggage and ridiculous associations, to see straight into the heart of the tragic mode and make it palpable and alive in the twentieth century. That is not all: the black and white cinematography is both formally assured and often outrageously daring; the soundtrack is one of the finest efforts of the greatest Japanese composer of the 20th century (or any century for that matter); the acting is demonically inspired; and the narrative is relentlessly gripping and involving. The film illuminates the relationship between the individual and society and between society and history. It is a tender meditation on familial love and the ties of friendship that transcend even death. This film will cut open your bowels, pull your soul out, and force you to stare it in the face. There may be other films that attain similar heights, but I cannot imagine any film, ever, being more perfect. Forget Citizen Kane, Seven Samurai, the Godfather, etc. etc. all of those commodified canonical works that everybody raves about because everybody else is raving about them. Don't get me wrong, they're fine--but this stuff is 200 proof. See it today. Buy it yesterday.