『Harakiri』

The quiet and active, swelling tension, the fierce and spectacular fight! Unravelling the vanity of the samurai society, and the ruthless way of the samurai!

Data

Story

Kan’ei year 7. In the estate of the Ii clan, a man named Tsugumo Hanshiro appears - a ronin of the Geishu Fukushima. “Rather than to live shamefully under the distress of this ronin life, I wish to cut my stomach and gracefully come to an end; will you lend me your land?”. The Ii clan elder Saito Kageyu who heard to him, recalls another ronin named Chijiiwa Motome, who had also come in the same manner. Kageyu compels seppuku. Just before the seppuku, a shocking story is spilled by Hanshiro... With the background of the samurai society in the last years of Tokunaga, the tragedy of samurais induced by the seppuku custom, and the grief of those who have lost a place to belong under feudality, has been depicted with a modern feel in this masterpiece jidaigeki.

Directors info

Masaki Kobayashi

(Film Director, 1916-1996) Born in Otaru, Hokkaido. 1941, he joins Shochiku Ofuna Studios, but is immediately conscripted. After being assigned to the Soviet borders, the war ends and he becomes a captive. Repatriated, he returns to Ofuna Studios, and apprentices to Keisuke Kinoshita. 1952, he makes his directorial debut with “Youth of the Son”. He produced films with a strong sense of social awareness, such as “Room With A Thick Wall” (’56) and “Black River” (’57). “Human Condition” (six-part film, ‘59-’61) became a peak, depicting citizens unreasonably falling victim to the country, military forces and social structures, whilst interjecting the war. This perspective was fully demonstrated in jidaigeki too, with “Harakiri” (’62) and “Samurai Rebellion” (’67). He also recreated the world of historical fantasy in “Kwaidan” (’64), with scrupulous historical investigation and the magnificent set.