Harakiri

Name: Harakiri
Genre: Drama
Released: 1920-12-06
Duration: 1 h 20 min
Rating: 5.6
Cast: Paul Biensfeldt, Lil Dagover, Georg John

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

778

YOUR RATING

Drama

The Buddhist priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priestess at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks if he were in Europe that his daughter should decide on her own, but he ... Read allThe Buddhist priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priestess at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks if he were in Europe that his daughter should decide on her own, but he is denounced and has to commit harakiri. She meets Olaf, a European officer, falls in love... Read allThe Buddhist priest wants the Daughter of the Daimyo to become a priestess at the Forbidden Garden. The Daimyo thinks if he were in Europe that his daughter should decide on her own, but he is denounced and has to commit 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 gives birth to a ... Read all

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IMDb RATING

5.6/10

778

YOUR RATING

See production, box office & company info

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Photos6

Lil Dagover, Georg John, and Niels Prien in Harakiri (1919)

Lil Dagover and Loni Nest in Harakiri (1919)

Lil Dagover and Niels Prien in Harakiri (1919)

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Trivia
The film was originally released in the United States and other countries as Madame Butterfly because of the source material on which it is based and which also inspired Giacomo Puccini's eponymous 1904 opera.

User reviews9

Review

Featured review

6/10

"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.

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