Harakiri
(1962)
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Harakiri
(1962)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Tatsuya Nakadai | ... | ||
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Akira Ishihama | ... | |
| Shima Iwashita | ... | ||
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Tetsurô Tanba | ... |
Hikokuro Omodaka
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Masao Mishima | ... |
Tango Inaba
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Ichirô Nakatani | ... |
Hayato Yazaki
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Kei Satô | ... |
Masakazu
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Yoshio Inaba | ... |
Jinai Chijiiwa
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Hisashi Igawa | ... |
Retainer
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Tôru Takeuchi | ... |
Retainer
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Yoshirô Aoki | ... |
Umenosuke Kawabe
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Tatsuo Matsumura |
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Akiji Kobayashi |
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Kôichi Hayashi |
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Ryûtarô Gomi | ... |
(as Katsuo Gomi)
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Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house. Written by Kevin Rayburn <kprayb01@homer.louisville.edu>
Little did I know that when my teacher said that this movie would be one of the best, if not the best, movies I have ever seen, that he would be telling the truth. I thought the movie was great. I thought `Hara-kiri' was very well written and well developed. I originally thought I was in for another Asian samurai movie filled with sword swinging, kung fu action, but it was so much more than that. It was a movie that shined a light on Japanese traditions and the hypocrisy of those in authoritative places. I really enjoyed the movie. It was one of those movies that if you fell to sleep on it or weren't paying attention you couldn't just fall back in line and think you could still follow the story. There was so much going on that you just wanted to give it all your attention. I enjoyed it because even though it `Die Hard' action packed, it still captured you. To one who knows that `hara-kiri' refers to suicide, you would probably assume that the movie would be grim and coarse. However, it was absolutely the opposite. It was a movie that really helped me to appreciate the strong and noble traditions of ancient Japan.