Harakiri (1919)

The Buddah priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priest at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks, if he was in Europe, that his daughter should decide on her own, but he is ... See full summary »

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

David Belasco (play), Max Jungk,

Stars:

Paul Biensfeldt, Lil Dagover, Georg John

Cast

Cast overview:
Paul Biensfeldt	...	Daimyo Tokuyawa
Lil Dagover	...	O-Take-San
Georg John	...	Buddhist Monk
Meinhart Maur	...	Prince Matahari
Rudolf Lettinger	...	Karan
Erner Huebsch	...	Kin-Be-Araki
Kaete Juster	...	Hanake
Niels Prien	...	Olaf J. Anderson
Herta Heden	...	Eva
Loni Nest	...	Child

Storyline

The Buddah priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priest at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks, if he was in Europe, that his daughter should decide on her own, but he is denuciated and has to comit harakiri. She meets Olaf, a European officer, falls in love and marries him but after a few months he has to return to Europe. She gave birth to a child and is waiting for him, while he marries in Europe. When he comes back to Japan 4 years later, he is accompained by his European wife...

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Plot Keywords:

japan | madame butterfly | based on play

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Germany

Release Date:

17 October 1921 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Madame Butterfly

Filming Locations:

Decla Lot, Hagenbeck's Tierpark, Hamburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG, Decla-Film-Gesellschaft Holz & Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 76 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

"Fear the unrelenting wrath of the Buddha!"

It's always cool to see rare, barely seen films from famous directors. This one is Fritz Lang's take on M. Butterfly (a story (a novel? a play?) with which I am unfamiliar), about a Japanese woman who marries a European man, only to be abandoned by him, poor and pregnant. The story of the film is very good and should have made a better film. Unfortunately, Lang's direction is very unimpressive and plodding. The actors, too are poor, except for Lil Dangover as the Japanese woman, who is merely adequate. It reeks of early directorial effort. It's definitely worth seeing if you get the chance, if only as a curio. 6/10.

PS: the quotation I cited in the summary above is actually spoken in the film by a Buddhist monk who wants to destroy the Japanese woman. Can you think of any god more intimidating than the Buddha? I know I can't.