Directed by:
Masaki KobayashiScreenplay:
Shinobu HashimotoCinematography:
Yoshio MiyajimaComposer:
Tôru TakemitsuPlots(1)
Of all Masaki Kobayashi’s attacks on the cruelty and inhumanity perpetrated by authoritarian power (including The Human Condition and Samurai Rebellion), perhaps none are more brilliant than his visceral, mesmerising Harakiri (aka Seppuku). In a magnificent performance, Tatsuya Nakadai stars as Hanshiro Tsugumo, a masterless down-and-out samurai who enters the manor of Lord Iyi, requesting to commit ritual suicide on his property. Suspected of simply fishing for charity, Hanshiro is told the gruesome tale of the last samurai who made the same request - but Hanshiro will not be moved... With its intricate structure and pressure-cooker atmosphere, Kobayashi’s first jidai-geki period drama is a full-scale demolition job of samurai ideals and feudal hypocrisy, filmed with artistry and surgical precision, and scored by celebrated composer Toru Takemitsu. (Eureka Entertainment)
(more)Cast
Tatsuya Nakadai
Japan
Best movies:
Zatoichi at the Fire Festival (1970)
The Human Bullet (1968)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Rentarô Mikuni
Japan
Best movies:
Natsu no niwa - The Friends (1994)
Harakiri (1962)
Zatoichi at Large (1972)
岩下志麻
Japan
Best movies:
Harakiri (1962)
Sword of the Beast (1965)
The River Fuefuki (1960)
Akira Ishihama
Japan
Best movies:
Immortal Love (1961)
Harakiri (1962)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)
Akiji Kobayashi
Japan
Best movies:
Harakiri (1962)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Shogun Assassin (1980)
佐藤慶
Japan
Best movies:
The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979)
Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966)
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
Hisashi Igawa
Best movies:
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Harakiri (1962)
After the Rain (1999)
Tetsurô Tamba
Japan
Best movies:
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
Harakiri (1962)
Three Outlaw Samurai (1964)
Yoshirô Aoki
Japan
Best movies:
Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963)
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
Harakiri (1962)
稲葉義男
Japan
Best movies:
Seven Samurai (1954)
Harakiri (1962)
The Old Bear Hunter (1982)
Nakajirō Tomita
Japan
Best movies:
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
Harakiri (1962)
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959)