Powerful critique of the samurai but takes too long to develop
“Samurai honor (Bushido) is nothing but a façade”<br /><br />1962’s Harakiri was a Japanese period piece featuring Tatsuya Nakadai as the ronin (masterless samurai) Tsugumo Hanshiro. Tatsuya was one of the iconic Japanese actors of this period. He was known for playing villains in such films as Yojimbo and heavies like in Sword of Doom. The director Masaki Kobayashi was one of Japan’s top creative forces.<br /><br />Harakiri starts with the ronin Tsugumo Hanshiro arriving at the Iyi clan castle in 1630. He claimed he was poor and desperate and wanted to commit ritual suicide, seppuku, with the help of the clan. Just a year before another ronin Motome Chijiwa with the exact same story and coming from the same area Hiroshima asked for the same favor from the Iyi. The problem was the Iyi saw him as not only a fraud but a disgrace and made him commit suicide with a bamboo sword he came with. He sold his real sword because he was so impoverished. He therefore could barely split his belly and had to suffer before he was given the death blow by his second. The scene is excruciating and shows the cruelty of the Iyi clan. It tuns out Tsugumo is putting the Iyi on trial for this crime. The movie then was a critique of the samurai way of honor, ritual sacrifice, and the lords that controlled their lives. As Tsugumo says, “Samurai honor is a façade.”<br /><br />Tatsuya Nakadai provides another strong performance. He’s not only playing another heavy, but he is a man who has been wronged and is on a mission. His human side is also well developed as a father and family man, and then a man consumed by remorse and then vengeance. The problem is the story takes so long to develop it strains the viewer’s patience. Thankfully the ending is amazing, and hits at the overall message about the problems with the samurai.<br />C
The movie title "Harakiri (The Criterion Collection)," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.9 from 540 reviewers. 
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This title falls under the categories of Movies & TV, Criterion Collection and All. 
The additional details include the following in key-value format :
 {"Genre": "Drama", "Format": "Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Black & White, NTSC, Subtitled", "Contributor": "Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Tatsuo Hosoya, Masaki Kobayashi, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Company, Ltd.Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Tatsuo Hosoya, Masaki Kobayashi, Shima Iwashita, Shochiku Company, Ltd.  See more", "Language": "Japanese", "Runtime": "2 hours and 13 minutes"}

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