Harakiri [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Masaki Kobayashi Masaki Kobayashi

Overview

This Japanese drama is set in the 17th century after the country centralized its political power. One effect of the death of feudalism was that the samurai warriors suddenly had no purpose. Many of the great fighters were suddenly reduced to wandering to estates and, in hopes of being giving jobs, piteously begging the owners to allow them to commit harikiri (the samurai suicide ritual) on their land. One such old fighter comes to an estate and is informed that a younger samurai came before him and was so poor that he had to use a bamboo sword to perform the ritual. This does not stop the elder fighter who requests that the three main swordsmen from the estate appear to participate. Unfortunately for the old soldier, no one comes on the appointed day and that is when the fighter reveals that he was the father-in-law of the recently deceased, disgraced samurai. To help avenge his dishonorable death, he dishonors the three fighters by cutting off their top knots. A big battle erupts and tragedy ensues, something that the estate's retainer, who orchestrated the whole fiasco, attempts to cover up. The film is also known as Seppuku.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/04/2011
UPC:	0715515087513
Original Release:	1963
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	2:13:00
Sales rank:	8,077

Special Features

Video Introduction by Japanese-film Historian Donald Richie; ; Excerpt from a rare Directors Guild of Japan video Interview with Director Masaki Kobayashi, Moderated by Filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda; ; Video Interviews with star Tatsuya Nakadai and Screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto; ; Original Theatrical Trailer; ; Plus: A Booklet featuring an Essay by Film Scholar Joan Mellen and a reprint of Mellen's 1972 Interview with Kobayashi

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Shima Iwashita	Miho Tsugumo
Tatsuya Nakadai	Hanshiro Tsugumo
Akira Ishihama	Motome Chijiiwa
Yoshio Inaba	Jinai Chijiiwa
Rentaro Mikuni	Kageyu Saito
Masao Mishima	Tango Inaba
Tetsuro Tamba	Hikokuro Omodaka
Ichiro Nakaya	Hayato Yazaki
Yoshio Aoki	Umenosuke Kawabe
Jo Azumi	Ichiro Shimmen
Hisashi Igawa	Young Samurai
Shoji Kobayashi	Young Samurai
Ryo Takeuchi	Young Samurai
Shichisaburo Amatsu	Page
Kei Sato	Masakazu Fukushima

Technical Credits

Masaki Kobayashi	Director
Tatsuo Hosoya	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Arguably Kobayashi's masterpiece, the austere tale of revenge is a brilliant assault on the latent hypocrisy and cruelty in the code of the samurai. The film takes place in peaceful 17th century Japan, where unemployed samurai warriors were forced to beg alms from feudal lords through the supposedly empty ritual of offering to commit ritual suicide. When such a samurai is forced by a lord to actually commit hara-kiri rather than being given alms, his father-in-law Tatsuya Nakadai seeks revenge. Kobayashi turns the sacred code of bushido inside out, pointing out that the notions of honor and obedience it exalts can easily be twisted to serve evil ends. Although it excoriates empty ritual, the film is permeated with the sense that the protagonist is enacting something like a holy rite, and the atmosphere is galvanized by the great Nakadai, who gives a performance of almost frighteningly controlled intensity. Not to be ignored is the impact of the carefully composed black-and-white photography of Yoshio Miyajima, a key component of this astonishing film.

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello