Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)
"Ichimei" (original title)

An tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Kikumi Yamagishi (screenplay), Yasuhiko Takiguchi (novel)

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Munetaka Aoki, Naoto Takenaka

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Kageyu
Munetaka Aoki	...	Hikokuro Omodaka
Naoto Takenaka	...	Tajiri
Hikari Mitsushima	...	Miho
Eita	...	Motome Chijiiwa
Ebizô Ichikawa	...	Hanshirô Tsugumo
Hirofumi Arai	...	Hayatonosho Matsuzaki
Kazuki Namioka	...	Umanosuke Kawabe
Takashi Sasano	...	Sousuke
Ayumu Saitô
Goro Daimon	...	Priest
Takehiro Hira	...	Naotaka Ii
Baijaku Nakamura	...	Jinnai Chijiiwa
Yoshihisa Amano	...	Sasaki
Ippei Takahashi

Storyline

An tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | samurai | 3 d | one word title | jidai geki | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan UK

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

20 July 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,920 (USA) (20 July 2012)

Gross:

$60,201 (USA) (31 August 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Sedic International, Amuse Soft Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (3D Stereoscopic) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first 3D title ever to be shown in official selection at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Goofs

As the wooden wakizashi is pushed into the stomach (after the tip snapped off), you can see that the blade is sliding into the handle.

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Connections

Version of Harakiri (1962)

User Reviews

Good to make a remake with a different Screenplay, Howrever...

Masaki Kobayashi's HARA-KIRI is my favorite movie of all time, Timeless story about Authority, Unjustice, Family and social links, but I tried to watch this one as partial as i could (well i saw the original 15 times so it's hard but i tried) and the changes in the screenplay are great because they throw the movie in another direction and that's what we want for a remake, not the same movie with better technology only...

Let's talk about technology : The 3D stereoscopic experience Ruins the cinematography... when you put off the glasses you got nice colors, contrasts and well balance luminosity... then when you put the glasses on you loose 2 diaphs, the contrast are flattened to the extreme and this is completely ugly for inside scenes... I saw it in Cannes 2011 so it was the first versions, i am sure they will change it for the theatrical release, if you have the choice between 3D and 2D versions don't hesitate a second and choose 2D.

Better be aware : the storytelling is very simple and contrast a lot with the masterpiece of Kobayashi, some who haven't seen the original said that was a problem, and some others said it was the way to tell this screenplay but the original one have to be better constructed. I would said honestly that even as this version is 5O years younger than the original, the filmaking is so simplified in this version that you couldn't tell which movie is the remake if you get rid of the technology differences, one is in Black and white, the other in 3D so...

My advice is you need to see both beginning by Kobayashi one as any human being should experience this story, one movie is a masterpiece of film making and give a great lesson to the viewer, the other is a smart adaptation of the screenplay and gives a great lesson to the characters of the movies, both are good to watch if you are a filmmaker, a movie reviewer or a movie addict.

EDIT : i saw it again in 2D in theatre last week IT IS FAR WORST than the original. no rhythm no conflict too much debriefing than a smart storytelling, run away from this betrayal and watch kobayashi masterpiece ASAP. i can't believe i was too gentle with this one IT IS A DISGRACE ! miike remake of eichi kudo's was great but this is a slaughter.