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Hara-Kiri

Original title: Seppuku
  • 19621962
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 13m
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
54K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,485
316
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Seppuku (1962)
  • Action
  • Drama
  • Mystery
When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so ... Read allWhen a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.When a ronin requesting seppuku at a feudal lord's palace is told of the brutal suicide of another ronin who previously visited, he reveals how their pasts are intertwined - and in doing so challenges the clan's integrity.
IMDb RATING
8.6/10
54K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,485
316
  • Director
    • Masaki Kobayashi
  • Writers
    • Yasuhiko Takiguchi(novel "Ibun rônin ki")
    • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Tatsuya Nakadai
    • Akira Ishihama
    • Shima Iwashita
Top credits
  • Director
    • Masaki Kobayashi
  • Writers
    • Yasuhiko Takiguchi(novel "Ibun rônin ki")
    • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Tatsuya Nakadai
    • Akira Ishihama
    • Shima Iwashita
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 290User reviews
    • 79Critic reviews
    • 85Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #47
    • Awards
      • 9 wins & 3 nominations

    Photos57

    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Tatsuya Nakadai in Seppuku (1962)
    Seppuku (1962)
    Seppuku (1962)
    Seppuku (1962)
    Seppuku (1962)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tatsuya Nakadai
    Tatsuya Nakadai
    • Hanshiro Tsugumoas Hanshiro Tsugumo
    Akira Ishihama
    Akira Ishihama
    • Motome Chijiiwaas Motome Chijiiwa
    Shima Iwashita
    Shima Iwashita
    • Miho Tsugumoas Miho Tsugumo
    Tetsurô Tanba
    Tetsurô Tanba
    • Hikokuro Omodakaas Hikokuro Omodaka
    Masao Mishima
    Masao Mishima
    • Tango Inabaas Tango Inaba
    Ichirô Nakatani
    Ichirô Nakatani
    • Hayato Yazakias Hayato Yazaki
    Kei Satô
    Kei Satô
    • Masakazuas Masakazu
    Yoshio Inaba
    Yoshio Inaba
    • Jinai Chijiiwaas Jinai Chijiiwa
    Hisashi Igawa
    Hisashi Igawa
    • Retaineras Retainer
    Tôru Takeuchi
    • Retaineras Retainer
    Yoshirô Aoki
    • Umenosuke Kawabeas Umenosuke Kawabe
    Tatsuo Matsumura
    Tatsuo Matsumura
    • Seibeias Seibei
    Akiji Kobayashi
    Akiji Kobayashi
    • Ii Clan Retaineras Ii Clan Retainer
    Kôichi Hayashi
    Ryûtarô Gomi
    Ryûtarô Gomi
    • Generalas General
    Jô Azumi
    • Ichiro Shimmenas Ichiro Shimmen
    Nakajirô Tomita
    Shichisaburô Amatsu
    • Retaineras Retainer
    • Director
      • Masaki Kobayashi
    • Writers
      • Yasuhiko Takiguchi(novel "Ibun rônin ki")
      • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Kevin Rayburn <kprayb01@homer.louisville.edu>
    • samurai
    • suicide
    • poverty
    • revenge
    • seppuku
    • 58 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The World Has Never Understood Why the Japanese Prefer Death to Dishonor! This Samurai Picture Provides The Answer!!
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Drama
      • Mystery
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      While filming, Tatsuya Nakadai was afraid during most of the sword and spear fighting scenes because real swords were being used, a practice now forbidden in Japanese films. His concern was not alleviated even though professional swordsmen were employed during the choreographed swordplay.
    • Goofs
      After Motome's seppuku, when Omodaka steps forward and chops Motome's head off (supposedly), he visibly stops his swing before striking Motome's neck (naturally, since real swords were used).
    • Quotes

      Hanshiro Tsugumo: What befalls others today, may be your own fate tomorrow.

    • Connections
      Featured in Through the Mist (2009)

    User reviews290

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Samurai Genre is Used to Exposively Indict Japanese Politics and Culture
    I saw Harakiri (Seppuku) in a new 35 mm print at NYC's Film Forum. This is a brilliant use of a narrow period genre to explosively indict politics and culture. Writers Shinobu Hashimoto and Yasuhiko Takiguchi surely must have been as inspired by "The Count of Monte Cristo," Ambrose Bierce and Howard Hawks' Westerns as much as by samurai literature and movies.

    The film begins deceptively as a story within a story, seemingly providing a traditional example of upholding samurai honor, such as in the conventional, oft-retold tale of "The 47 Ronin." The context is set at a time when the central government, the shogunate, is supplanting local clans and arbitrarily unemploying thousands of people, notably their samurai, forcing them into the mercenary mode of ronin at best and begging for food at worse. But the parallels to the 20th century are made repeatedly explicit as the samurai who comes to this clan seeking help is from Hiroshima.

    Very gradually we get further insight on the tale within a tale, as we see more flashbacks within flashbacks into what each character has been doing before these confrontations and we get uneasy inklings that the moral of the story may not be what it appears at first and the stakes get higher and higher with almost unbearable tension.

    It is almost halfway through the film until we see a female and we suddenly see an alternative model of masculinity, where a priority is put on family, support, education and creative productivity. In comparison to the macho opening relationships, with their emphasis on formal militaristic loyalty to a hierarchy, a loving husband and father is practically a metrosexual. Seeing the same stalwart samurai making casual goo goo sounds to his grandbaby puts the earlier, ritualized scenes in sharp relief, particularly the recurring image of the clan's armor which seems less and less imposing and is finally destroyed as an empty symbol.

    The psychological tension in the confrontations in the last third of the film is more excruciating than the actual violence. Even when we thought we already knew the outcome from the flashbacks, the layers of perception of relationships and personalities are agonizingly peeled away with each thrust of a sword to reveal the depths of the horrifying hypocrisy of the political and social structure. And those are just the overwhelming cultural resonances that a 21st century American can glean. Like "Downfall (Der Untergang)," it reveals the inhumane mentality that led to World War II.

    The repeating motif of long walks then confrontations down empty corridors emphasizes the stultifying bureaucratic maze that entraps the characters. The revenge motifs are accented by startlingly beautiful cinematography that recalls traditional Japanese art, including drops of blood like first snow flakes then a waterfall.

    The over all effect of this masterpiece is emotionally draining.
    helpful•159
    17
    • noralee
    • Sep 16, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 4, 1964 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Harakiri
    • Filming locations
      • Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
    • Production company
      • Shochiku
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $15,222
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 13 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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