Harakiri

Very Nice！I want to watch again……

Always wondered why this had such high ratings, watched it and totally understood.

I have seen quite some samurai movies and i gotta say, nothing on my list come close to this one. and perhaps never will.

Most people probably won't appreciate this movie but, I think it was awesome. It starts off a bit slow but catches up eventually. The cinematography, the plot, everything is great. You need to watch this movie carefully as you'll miss the important details like the flashbacks which can be a bit confusing. Masaki Kobayashi did a great job on this.

Despite its slow pace, it was incredibly fluid. At times, they’ve shown very well how even the most believed-in values can be hollowed out by those who claim to believe in them.

Harakiri (1962) is a Japanese film that takes place in 1630, and it is a story of the Samurai code of honor and family. Harakiri (also called seppuku) is the ritualistic suicide once employed by Samurai warriors to die while keeping their honor intact. A Samurai, Hanshiro Tsugumo, travels to the House of a rival clan Iyi, asking for a place to commit seppuku. Clans would permit such requests because it was an honorable final act for a Samurai to save his honor in their house. At that time, Samurai often arrived under a false pretense of committing seppuku but leaving with gold. The clan believes Tsugumo arrived under such false pretense. The story unravels from that point into a flashback of another Samurai, Motome Chijiiwa, who had arrived under such false pretense. I can’t say anything more about the relationship between Tsugumo and Chijiiwa without spoiling the story.

The filming style is interesting. It is depicted using dialogue and several flashbacks as it draws out the plot. The first hour is slow-paced, but the story picks up pace thereafter. It is ultimately a pushback on the Samurai code and the hypocrisy behind it.

Would I recommend this? Yes, I believe it was very well done. The directing often reminded me of Akira Kurosawa's works. I would think the director of this film was inspired by Kurosawa. However, it’s probably not for everyone because of the pacing, style, and lack of much action (until the last half hour). Not everyone likes subtitles either.

Very heavy on the dialogue, but nonetheless it’s a very entertaining story about culture, honor and (most of all) family. Also liked the way it was shot, especially for the time.

The original title of the film is Seppuku.

After seeing the remake a few years ago, we now see the original and it's just as good

What a waste of time…