Hara-kiri (1962) Seppuku

Movie Rating NR Contains: Violence Mature Situations

Director: Masaki Kobayashi Movie Genre: Samurai, Drama Country: Japan Hara-kiri Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 8.9 Writing: 9.0 Acting: 8.5 Cinematography: 7.8 Sound and Score: 7.0 Functionality: 8.0 Presentation: 9.0 Genre Comparison: 9.0 General Comparison: 9.5 Overall: 8.5 Reviewed 2006-02-13 23:42:35

Hara-kiri, or seppuku, is the practice of ritual suicide by disembowelment either to atone for a heinous crime, or to die in an honorable fashion in order to save face. This was a fairly common occurrence during the samurai period. Often during times of peace, when a samurai's master is defeated or slain, all of his employed samurai become ronin. These ronin were usually assimilated by another master in times of war. During peacetime it was much harder for a ronin to find employment since samurai were not in such high demand. Many of these unemployed ronin opted to commit seppuku and die a noble death instead of live the life of a lowly beggar. In order for the seppuku ceremony to take place, the ronin had to "borrow" another lord's courtyard since he could no longer use his master's. When faced with this request, many noblemen decided to have pity on the downtrodden samurai and offer him a few coins to be on his way.

Masaki Kobayashi's Hara-kiri is a story about one of these ronin and his request to commit hara-kiri. Hanshiro arrives at the gates of Iyi Manor asking to use their courtyard to be given a samurai's death. Kageyu Saito, the lord of the house, recalls a story about a ronin who previously came there requesting hara-kiri under false pretenses. Saito pressed the issue and refused to let the ronin back out, forcing him to commit suicide. Saito tells this story to ensure that Hanshiro's intentions are sincere. After determining that Hanshiro actually intends to complete the ritual, Kageyu Saito grants Hanshiro the final request of telling his story so that others may benefit from hearing a dying man's last words. Hanshiro's plight is an indictment against the bureaucracy, hypocrisy, and false sense of honor that the samurai cling to so tightly.

The screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto and Yasuhiko Takiguchi is so immersive that it would seem pointless to question its historical accuracy. Also, the idea of exposing the hypocrisy and corruption within the ruling class is universal. Hanshiro has every intention of killing himself, but only after his point has been made.

Since this movie was made in 1962, the filmmakers were unable to show all of the graphic details of someone ritually disemboweling themselves. Instead, they focus on the reactions of the attendants and the victim. This builds a great deal of tension during these scenes. This tension is accented by the flashback sequences where we learn about the character before we see him end his life.

Hara-kiri is an amazing movie. The themes and plot devices are just as relevant today as they ever were. The structure of this movie is so technically sound that even if it did not have all of the social commentary; it would still be one of the greatest samurai movies of all time. Hara-kiri is a must have for everyone's Asian DVD collection.