Cinema
Harakiri
切腹
Masaki Kobayashi · 1962
Synopsis
In 1630, peace leaves many samurai without employment. A rōnin, Tsugumo Hanshirō, presents himself at the residence of the Iyi clan and asks permission to disembowel himself in the courtyard, according to Roger Ebert. The steward, Saitō Kageyu, first tells him the story of another rōnin, Chijiiwa Motome, who had come a few months earlier with the same request, and who had been forced to keep his word with a bamboo blade. Tsugumo listens, then asks to tell his own story before the ceremony.
Context
The film adapts a story by Takiguchi Yasuhiko, from a screenplay by Hashimoto Shinobu and music by Takemitsu Tōru, according to the BnF record. Produced by Hosoya Tatsuo and distributed by Shōchiku, it was released in Japan on 16 September 1962. Roger Ebert notes framings that constantly set the authority of the steward against the low position of the visitor. The film competed at Cannes in 1963, and Miike Takashi made a new 3D version of it in 2011, shown in turn in competition.
Who it is for
More than two hours in black and white, built from nested narratives, around the ritual of samurai suicide.
Prizes and reception
Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1963, it was re-released in French cinemas in 2008.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.