Harakiri ('Seppuku' 1962) Movie Review

So few movies in recent years can tell a story that you will probably never forget and it is often that I find myself looking towards past movies to find the lost art of the cinema. Because there is so few anime worth keeping my interest and even fewer worth commenting about I began to explore the films of Japanese directors. At first my attention was naturally directed to films by the infamous Akira Kurosawa ("The Seven Samurai", "The Hidden Fortress", "Yojimbo", "Sanjuro", "Rashomon"), and it was there that I knew I would find some glimpse into filmmaking greatness.

As fulfilling as Akira Kurosawa's films are, and as inspiring they are to more famous Hollywood movies ("The Seven Samurai = The Magnificient Seven", "Yojimbo = A Fistful of Dollars", "The Hidden Fortress = Star Wars"), I was drawn specifically towards Kurosawa's samurai epics rather than his post World War II era films and detective noirs. As I searched for other great Samurai epics outside of Kurosawa, I found myself watching the film "Seppuku" by Masaki Kobayashi. It was a film so great that I can't help but write a review in hopes that I can encourage you, the readers of this review, to experience this fantastic epic of a lone samurai warrior seeking revenge and death.


Story
Harakiri, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, takes place in the early 1600's in Japan during the Edo period and the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. The great and bloody civil wars have come to an end, but numerous masterless Samurai warriors, known as "Ronin", are jobless and starving to death. And, because working like a peasant is as equally as dishonorable as begging for money, many Samurai ex-warriors are requesting to commit seppuku, or "harakiri" as we in the west call it, to end their own misery.



For those who are unfamiliar with the ritual of harakiri, or likely have been misled as to its significance, I will explain: harakiri, or “seppuku”, is a Samurai's only honorable death outside of a battle or a duel. The ritualistic suicide takes place in the presence of other Samurai, and, donning a white death robe, the death-seeking Samurai warrior ritualistically slices his stomach open with a short blade, traditionally a tantō, effectively disemboweling himself. After a cut (or, depending on any trespasses or crimes of the suicidal Samurai, a series of cuts) has been made to satisfaction, a Samurai's "second" will finish the harakiri ritual by decapitating him.



The movie harakiri begins with a lone ronin, Hanshiro Tsugumo, at the house of a feudal lord, Kageyu Saito, looking for a suitable place to commit seppuku. However, Kageyu Saito is suspicious of Hanshiro Tsugumo’s intentions, and he suspects that Tsugumo is feigning a desire to commit harakiri in an attempt to extort money from the house so that he won’t commit suicide, as is becoming a popular hustle. Instead, Saito tells the ronin, Tsugumo, of the last man who asked to perform seppuku in his house.

The film flashes back to January of that year, and another ronin, the young Motome Chijiiwa, asks to be allowed to perform harakiri. The samurai retainers of the Saito house believe him to be begging for coins, so they accept Chijiiwa’s request. Chijiiwa is horrified that the samurai retainers called his bluff, and he begs them to postpone his suppuku suicide for two days. However, the retainers believe Chijiiwa to be a coward, and they not only demand that he perform the harakiri, but they force him to go through with his own death wish. As the young Chijiiwa prepares himself for his own suicide while his pleads for an postponement are denied, he is given his own tanto for his cutting. The horror is revealed as Chijiiwa’s tanto is revealed to be a fake sword made of blunt bamboo. Regardless, the samurai retainers believe that his bamboo swords are just a part of his soul as a real sword, and he must die by his own weapon. The equivalent of committing harakiri with a blunt bamboo sword is no different than having to slice your own stomach open with a wood sword you would let a child play with. Chijiiwa is then forced to slice not only a horizontal cut across his stomach, but also a vertical cut as punishment for his cowardice. In a long, horrific and cruel scene, Chijiiwa does everything he can to disembowel himself with the bamboo sword, while his second refuses to decapitate him until he’s made the full cross-shaped cut. Chijiiwa instead bites his own tongue off and is then finally decapitated.



Flashing back to the present, Saito asks Tsugumo if he is resolute in his wanting to commit harakiri because there is no going back. Hanshiro Tsugumo is resolute and demands to hurry with the ceremony, and Saito grants his wish. As Tsugumo sits in the garden of the Saito house, he prepares for death, but not before he asks specifically for one of three of Saito’s samurai retainers to be his second and decapitator; however, none of the three make themselves available. So as Hanshiro Tsugumo waits for one of the three to arrive and fulfill his last request, he begins to tell the story of his own life, starting with his acquaintance with a young samurai named Motome Chijiiwa…

The movie Harakiri is not a run of the mill samurai movie where an unemployed samurai is a hired gun who will hack and slash any opponent for money, but instead it plays out like a great Shakespearean Tragedy, "Titus Andronicus", where the once proud ex-soldier and father has his entire life stripped from him, and in his madness he exacts his cruel revenge against his oppressors. In Harakiri, the character of Tsugumo is a retired samurai that has been wronged by an elitist class and wants to not only commit seppuku, but express his grievances to the Saito clan, and shame them for what he perceives is an unforgivable act of cruelty upon not only Motome Chijiwa, but on his entire family. While watching Harakiri one might ponder any possible political attack on the tyranny of Japanese militarists in World War II, as the themes of the decorated military elite committing inadvertent cruelties and hardships upon civilians in the name of honor is all but simply implied.



The pacing of Harakiri is admittedly grueling and, much like the samurai who hear Hanshiro Tsugumo's story, you will find yourself often hoping that Tsugumo would simply cut to the point he is trying to make, finish his story, and commit the act that he is so set upon. However in the very long and drawn out first half of Harakiri the audience is bonding with the characters of this tragic tale, creating an impressive ensemble of characters that you learn to understand. For instance during my initial viewing my first impression of Motome Chijiwa was not so different from the samurai retainers: If Motome Chijiwa was asking for aid in his seppuku, he should have been prepared for someone to call his bluff, especially a group of hardened samurai who believed the act to be sacred. Further into the movie, the more that you learn that Motome Chijiwa was not the coward that you first perceive him to be, the more haunting story is in full. Perhaps if anyone were to take anything from Harakiri it should be to not pass judgments until the whole truth has been revealed to you.



The cinematography is effective in Harakiri to say the least; the use of lighting to convey emotion and the use of the "Dutch Angle" camera angle during the Chijiwa's suicide conveys an almost surreal and nightmarish terror to the viewer.

As the movie progresses you are given the twist to the story, and not only does the pace of the film turn sharply from a drama towards the style of so many other samurai epics, but the environment around the actors become more artistically driven. The scene that impressed me the most was the duel between Hanshiro Tsugumo and the samurai retainer who acted as the second during Chijiwa's cruel harakiri ceremony.



Here the actors move out of the confines of the huts and houses and through surreal cemeteries, down the paths that run between bamboo forests, and finally to the cliche windy meadow. The pacing through these settings is also over-extended, however I believe that the fantastic shots are meant to convey the possibility that either of these men are to die. If I were to be walking to a duel, knowing that these moments were my last on earth, I believe that I would be absorbing the scenery and taking into account the world around me for what would in all likeliness feel like an eternity.



The scarce fight choreography is impressive and although it is slower than most other samurai action films, it feels more cautious and more emotionally driven. It is not to say that the action is delicate; the sword fighting is brutal and violent, but it has an artist's touch to make a clash of swords an emotional battle.



The use of music is minimal, creating long scenes of suspense and intensity. Like the great Shakespearean Tragedies performed in a live theater, the actors and the story alone must create the ambiance and atmosphere of any given scene without the aid of music alone to convey an emotion to an audience.

In closing Harakiri (Seppuku) is probably not a film that is on every kung-fu fanatic or samurai enthusiest's top ten greatest action list because although the latter half of the film has adequate action scenes, the pacing of the entire film is very slow and calculated. Harakiri falls into the realm of drama and Shakespearean Tragedy than most conventional samurai movies, which can be a turn off to some. But because of its effectiveness, I endorse this movie as a great piece of Japanese cinema and I believe that if you can enjoy the great films by Akira Kurosawa, then Masaki Kobayashi's "Harakiri" will not disappoint.

Huh, sounds pretty good. I only ever saw The Seven Samurai and it was a kick ass movie, but I'd like to get into some old school kung fu and samurai films.

I will try to finish this review in the next few days. It may be a shorter review because I want to omit spoilers.

I hope you try to finish this review someday.

Tonight I hope

Good review, but HOLY CRAP having to cut your stomach open with a wood sword????? Fuck that noise.

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The series is dedicated to analyzing and eviscerating tasteless low-budged B-grade knock-offs of more popular and expensive Hollywood flicks - Mockbusters. CineMax is an amateur, yet aspiring movie critic, who makes comedic video reviews, writes insightful and analytical articles, and, occasionally just blabbers about stuff he deems important.

I do like good samurai movies so perhaps I will try to find a torrent for this movie.



If you enjoy Dutch Angle shots I could recommend Battlefield Earth to you. The entire movie is filmed at an angle and it is nauseating to watch.

Good review, I'm gonna go find this and watch it now, i like it.

Harakiri is now live as our first "Obscure Movie Review Month" title. A very solid review if I do say so myself.

Who else is writing about lesser known movies?