Harakiri

Starring:Harakiri
Studio: Panorama
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Those who hold the power control all; past, present & future; 100% (SPOILERS)
One Of The Best I've Seen Ever
one of the best and the saddest samurai twilight story
Great story, but slow at times.
Disharmony of Sword and Pen

Harakiri - Criterion Collection
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai , Rentaro Mikuni , Shima Iwashita , Akira Ishihama , and Yoshio Aoki
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

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Ran - Criterion Collection

ASIN: B0009WIE2A
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Amazon.com

Dramatically compelling and emotionally intense, Harakiri is a certified classic of Japanese film, and a riveting study of samurai codes of honor. Unlike Kurosawa's rousing samurai epics, this is an uncompromisingly tragic tale, exposing the hypocrisy of 17th-century Japanese society with its story of a family destroyed by the cruelty of feudalism toward warriors in peacetime. The film is truly Shakespearean in its emotional scope, embodied by the unforgettable performance of Tatsuya Nakadai (star of Kurosawa's Ran) as an elder warrior seeking revenge for the unnecessary seppuku (ritual suicide) of his beloved son-in-law. Director Masaki Kobayashi begins at story's end, then recounts the narrative (adapted from a novel by Yasuhiko Takiguchi) as told by Nakadai's character. The effect is almost unbearably suspenseful, leading to an explosive climax of supreme defiance and samurai swordplay, erupting from a battle of wills, called bluffs, and hotly defended honor. For connoisseurs of samurai action, Harakiri is not to be missed. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi's clans men, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself - but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.

Customer Reviews:

Those who hold the power control all; past, present & future; 100% (SPOILERS).......2007-06-30

It was love at first sight.

I'd never heard, prior to it's Criterion release, of Masaki Kobayashi's film until the day my eyes were drawn, magnetically, to the artwork on the cover; and then I saw the title, and thought to myself "holy **ap, that's gotta be amazing."

But $40 is a big chunk of change to spend on a movie I'd never seen before, let alone never heard of, plus at the time I'm pretty sure I had no job.

So, fast forward some time, and I find a copy on eBay for about half the price. It was still a blind buy, I'd done no research on the film or the director. It sat on my shelf for a good 2 months before I finally sat down to watch it, the result of my initial viewing, which ended no more than an hour ago, has left me, simply, in total awe.

Tatsuya Nakadai was absolutely brilliant in Ran & Kagemusha, but in the hands of Kobayashi he's an entirely different entity. In Harakiri I saw a calm, melancholy man, as oppposed to the derranged lord in Ran or the criminal turned ruler in Kagemusha.

Kobayashi was a man who did not like authority, plain and simple, so that is certainly something I can agree with. The film is, like Donald Ritchie says in the introduction, a generic yet not generic samurai film, because upon further introspection it's an anti-samurai film, a film that denounces their code as a facade.

The end of Harakiri is one of the most crippilingly (is that even a word) painful I've seen in the films I've recently watched. Everything that Tatsuya's character went through, all the planning & plotting, the scheming & his subsequent death were all for nothing, because those in charge morphed it into a seemingly generic act.

One Of The Best I've Seen Ever.......2007-06-27

This just might my be my favorite samurai film of all time and one of the best I've ever seen. Harakiri is based during the Edo period around the early 1600's. A man named Hanshiro Tsugumo apears infront of the house of Kageyu Saito to commit Harakiri, also known as seppuku, which is the Japanese ritual for suicide. To discourage Hanshiro from doing so, Kageyu Saito tells the story of another samurai, Motome Chijiiwa. Moteme is actually Tsugumo's son-in-law, he tells the story of how hard the struggle has been in the past months for the poverty stricken family. While watching this retelling you start to understand how hard it was for this mans family.

Tsugumo's friend, also a samurai committed seppuku and left Tsugumo to look after his son. It turns out that his son was Motome Chijiiwa. While looking after Chijiiwa and also his own daughter Miho, Hanshiro is unable to choose the "honorable" way to end his life so he has to live in poverty and work degrading jobs in order to support his family. When the children got older Tsugumo wanted his daughter to marry Motome. Motome wanted to but didn't think he could support anyone else in such hard times. The two ended up getting married and having a child. As the story goes on and Tsugumo keeps talking you and the samurai start to realize what's really going on but you'll have to watch to find out.

One of my greatest concerns with a film made long ago is the quality of the picture and sound and both are as good as you are gonna get them but it's decent. Everything else is perfect; this film has some of the best samurai action scenes you'll see. Tatsuya Nakadai is amazing making this film feel real, like he was actually a samurai and this character. The way the story builds up suspense is perfect; it grabs you in more and more as it goes by. First Tsugumo's telling this heartbreaking sad story and then his story gets faster. More action is added with revenge and courage. It's filmed in a stylish and realistic beginning, middle, and certainly the end. This is an amazing movie that can never be touched, anyone who loves samurai films I would definitely recommend this for you.

one of the best and the saddest samurai twilight story.......2007-04-24

this is definitely one of the best classic movies, not just in samurai genre, out of the great japanese movie production industry.
what a sad story yet so sublime. the 'bushido' tradition in some way was just a malicious and vicious manipulation mean from the powerful the rich to force their retainers die for some big yet hollow bondage. it's the same like the ancient egypt, when their phorah died, almost all of his wife, concubines, slaves had to be buried alive in the pyramid with him. like chin dynasty in ancient china, forced hundreds even thousands to be buried alive with his corpse.
samurai to commit harakiri with bamboo blade sword was such a horrible scene to be watched.
this is a great and very very sad story to be hauntingly told in black and white.
looking back to the japanese movies produced in the golden years of the 60s and 70s, then looking at the movies produced nowadays by the japanese movie producers and directors, what a day and night difference. under the brainless and illogical influences of the animation, the video games and the comic books polluted japan and the world, nothing could be fairly compared to what they've achieved in the 60s. what a shame that japanese movie industry still failed to realize such miserable loss so far.....
this movie is not just great, it's hauntingly great.

Great story, but slow at times........2007-03-29

Very good movie, this japanese classic is a must for samurai movie collectors like myself. Great story line and wonderfull acting, but like most samurai movies there are parts that are a little slow. I loved it though. really shows a glimps of what the japanese culture is about.

Disharmony of Sword and Pen.......2007-03-22

I've said it once about another movie, incidentally by the other great Japanese director as well and I want to repeat my words in regard to "Harakiri": "There are good, very good, and even great movies. But among them there are just a few that go beyond great. They belong to the league of their own". Masaki Kobayashi's "Harakiri" aka "Seppuku" is one of them. The film of rare power and humanism, of highest artistic achievements, profoundly moving, tragic like the best Shakespeare's plays, universal and timeless even if it takes place in the faraway country of 1630, by the words of one of the reviewers "Harakiri" "is to cinema as the Sistine Chapel is to painting. Unsurpassable!"

The film grabbed me from the very first shot, from its opening credits with their perfect harmony of kanji (I believe it is correct word to describe the writings) characters, with the unusual disturbing score and with the dark beauty of the images. And then the story begins that centers on Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai), one of hundreds or maybe even thousands unemployed lord less samurais, ronin, that in the blessed times of peace had not many choices to adjust to new life and often preferred to commit a ritual suicide, hara-kiri or seppuku on the property of the wealthy estate owners. According to Bushido, the way of the samurai, "One who is a samurai must before all things keep constantly in mind, by day and by night . . . the fact that he has to die. That is his chief business."

At the same time, samurai and anti-samurai film, "Harakiri" offers the masterfully screened scenes of swordfights, not plentiful but exquisitely choreographed, perfectly paced and unbearably intense but the film is much more than that. It is also a gripping court drama where the truth is unfolded in the flashbacks. The viewers are allowed to look closer at the noble Samurai code of behavior and to reflect on how its abuse impacts the fate of an individual and the society in general. Compelling, poetic, and tragic, the movie has one of the most pessimistic endings ever that makes you wonder how the history is made, how the historical events are interpreted and who decides what would be written in the chronicles and important documents and what would be left out.

A Masterpiece, one of the best movies ever made, "Harakiri" deserves all its praise. It is not in my nature to force my opinion on anyone but if you call yourself a movie buff or a movie lover, you MUST see this film.

Five stars is not enough to rate it.

Average customer rating:

A Special Wish
One of the all time best movies
A masterpiece
Harakiri

Harakiri [Region 3]
Starring: Yoshio Aoki , Jo Azumi , Hisashi Igawa , Yoshio Inaba , and Akira Ishihama
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Manufacturer: Panorama
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Period Piece | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00026779O
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Customer Reviews:

A Special Wish.......2005-06-26

I really wish people would stop revealing the end of this movie; it's disappointing to those who don't have a clue.

One of the all time best movies.......2005-05-09

I only have one complaint about this movie-it's only available as a region 3 dvd--luckily--I was able to make a copy that is region 1 playable--or I'd have been limited to watching this on my lap top! If you have the ability to make legal copies-or if you have a region 3 (or universal) player--by all means get this movie!
This is not an "action packed" Samurai movie--though the pacing is a little slow--the story is engrossing and never becomes boring. I would compare the the pace of this movie as being similar to Kihachi Okamoto's "Sword of Doom"
A young samurai request permission to commit harakiri--and to his surprise-not only is his request granted--but it's enforced.
Having sold his sword--he is forced to commit suicide with a bamboo sword--a nearly impossible task--so painful he bites his tongue off. The moment when he realizes he is to commit harakiri with the bamboo-the shock and horror on the yooung Samurais face emotes indescribable empathy
The remainder of the story involves his father in law--who reveals why the young samurai made his request--and ends in his seeking revenge. Details are spared so as not to give too much away to anyone who hasn't seen the movie!
Kobayashi's film is brilliant--in my opinion superior to "Seven Samurai" (NO EASY TASK) even without Mifune-my favorite actor!
Not to say that Kobayashi is better than Kurosawa--but in this particular movie my opinion is that Kobayashi was nearly perfect!

THIS MOVIE HAS RECENTLY BECOME AVAILABLE AS A REGION 1 DVD

A masterpiece.......2005-03-26

A japanese tragedy and a cinema lesson for all cinephiles. Kobayashi is a mster. The copy is not very good but we must have it in our DVDtheque.

Harakiri.......2004-09-29

What is the nature of honor? That is the main theme of this movie. Much as the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" dealt with the nature of beauty, good and evil, by justaposing the characters' outward appearance, status, etc., with their inner-truth, this movie deals with the concept of honor in a similar fashion. The main character is an impoverished samurai who became a ronin when his master was ordered to commit ritual suicide for repairing the wall to his castle (the Shogun felt this was in preparation for war). Our main character is denied the honor of committing suicide to accompany his master and instead is tasked by his master with watching out for son. The movie shows how this once proud member of the elite samurai class deals with the hardships of daily life as a poor, single father. Throughout the movie, he is forced to make several difficult choices that affect him, his daughter, son-in-law and dying grandson. This is contrasted with the life and activities of a powerful samurai clan with which the main character becomes involved. This clan of "honorable" samurai are viewed in their elegant castle replete with Zen gardens and Buddhist artwork. The occupants of this splendid structure, however, are self-serving, scheming people who view our main character with contempt and as someone who is an embarrassment as a samurai. You can also see the palpable fear on the part of the clan members because they see how easily their fate could become the same as his. In the end, our main character shows that it is not the trappings and "things" in life that make a man honorable, but something much simpler . . . the choices one makes on a day to day basis. Oh, yeah . . . the climax of the movie features an incredible fight between the main character and the entire clan of samurai to whom he tells his story.

This movie is letter-boxed black and white and the scenery and cinematography are beautiful! The climactic battle is done in the understated, economic manner consistent with classic Japanese films and is beautiful to watch. So far, this is my favorite movie of the genre and is well worth checking out.

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