Harakiri 切腹 (1962) Japanese

Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Akira Ishihama, Yoshio Inaba

Movie rating: 9/10     Neck score: A

My little brother really wanted to show me this movie, because it was one that he loved, but there are only a few people who he knew who would actually be interested in it. I was one of them, especially since it takes place in the period of Japanese history that I wrote my senior thesis on, so it was extra interesting to me, so I loved it. However, I can see why people might not love it, because if you aren't familiar with the history, it's slow pace and lengthy talking sequences might bore you.

Basically, it is about the Tokugawa period, when the extended period of peace threw off the class structure when all the sudden the warlords lost power to the shogun, leaving hundreds to thousands of samurai without jobs and stable incomes. Because of the class structure they weren't able to get manual labor jobs and were forced to scrap for a living. This show starts when a ronin (or jobless samurai) shows up on a lord's estate asking if he could use their courtyard to perform seppuku (aka harakiri) or ritual suicide where they cut their stomachs open horizontally, then vertically, and then they will have their head cut off by their second. This leads to the revelation of a popular scam of ronin coming to manors and asking for this favor in the hopes of showing their determination and either scoring a job or some money, which is a tricky balance of honor. Should the manor call bluff? Should they honor the request? Or should they potentially be scammed?

The movie is a lot of storytelling, both visually as well as through all the talking, and through the slow unfolding of the story, you get to see multiple sides of the tale, and realize things are not what they seem. It is a commentary on honor, appearances, and the social structure of society in that period. It can also comment on the periods following.

There are some very intense scenes, including some with fighting, made more intense when your trivia knowing brother tells you that it was shot using real swords that were sharp even. The tension is palpable. But besides the few scenes of physical action, the mental action during all the talking is also tense, as each reveal leaves you with some awe, as well as anticipation as to how the story will unfold when you start to connect the dots and realize that there is way more than meets the eye. It was basically some dang good writing, good action, good acting. I loved it.