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Harakiri (1962)

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Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 5
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 0

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Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 0

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Movie Info

This well-regarded Japanese drama follows an aging samurai as he attempts to regain his family's honor. In 17th century Japan, a shift in the country's political structure has thrown the feudal Shogun system into disuse. Impoverished samurai wander the countryside, asking wealthy estate owners if they can commit hara-kiri, a grisly form of suicide, on their property. The usual and honorable response is an offer of some work for food or shelter. Into the house of a lord comes Hanshiro Tsugumo

Unrated, 2 hr. 15 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Classics

Directed By: Masaki Kobayashi

Written By: Shinobu Hashimoto, Yasuhiko Takiguchi

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1962 Wide

On DVD: Aug 23, 2005

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai
Hanshiro Tsugumo
Rentaro Mikuni
Kageyu Saito
Shima Iwashita
Miho Tsugumo
Akira Ishihama
Motome Chijiiwa
Shichisaburo Amatsu
Tetsuro Tamba
Hikokuro Omodaka
Yoshio Inaba
Jinai Chijiiwa
Masao Mishima
Tango Inaba
Yoshio Aoki
Umenosuke Kawabe
Jo Azumi
Ichiro Shimmen
Hisashi Igawa
Young Samurai
Ichir� Nakaya
Hayato Yazaki
Kei Sato
Masakazu Fukushima
Shouji Kobayashi
Shoji Kobayashi

Critic Reviews for Harakiri

All Critics (7) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (0) | DVD (3)

A devastating, emotionally intense critique of the feudal system's hypocrisy and the warrior's code.

September 8, 2005 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

| Comment

Colin Covert

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Top Critic

A masterful chess game, filled with many carefully constructed moves, each arranged to fit in a particular place. It's glorious to behold.

October 29, 2011 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

A deathtrap slowly closing around its characters, Harakiri exhorts the viewer to come and see the violence inherent in the samurai system.

October 5, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

even if Kobayashi's first period film is an exemplary tale speaking as much to our own times as to Japan's feudal era, it is also a ripping yarn, keeping the viewer gripped with its jigsaw structure and intense performances.

September 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Little White Lies

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

[Director] Kobayashi hasn't achieved the same level of North American recognition as many of his peers, but this may be his masterwork.

October 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

| Comment

Brent Simon

Now Playing Magazine Source: Now Playing Magazine

While avoiding (even criticizing) the epic scale inherent in samurai films, it's thrilling and involving in ways that few straight genre films accomplish.

September 28, 2005 Full Review | Comment

Mark Palermo

Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

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Audience Reviews for Harakiri

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A powerful critique of the feudal system, the hipocrisy and the persecution of individuality. The parade of a false sense of "honor" that sacrifices human beings for the sake of a facade, an illusion of prosperity, of doing the "right" thing. Kobayashi's direction is impecable as usual, and the cast is top-notch.

September 11, 2007

Tsubaki Sanjuro

Super Reviewer

I've been waiting a long time to watch this movie, but now I've finally seen it!This movie is different from other samurai movies, because it criticizes the samurai code; Bushido, and doesn't romanticize it. Nakadai is as wonderful as ever with his colorful range of expressions, nobody else can portray as much

August 1, 2007