Hara-Kiri

Hara-Kiri, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, tells the tale of the House of Iyi after the ascension of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa clan declared that most other shogunates be dissolved. This led to a period of peace, but flooded the cities and countryside with masterless samurai. It is 1630, and the few remaining shogunates have seen a number of masterless samurai presenting themselves and asking for the right to use their grounds to commit ritual suicide rather than live on in intolerable poverty, or performing the ritual in the street. In one case, the destitute samurai was given a job as a retainer, but in most other cases it was simply a ruse -- most shogunates paid off the samurai rather than allow the ritual to be performed.

Hara-Kiri (also known as seppuku) is a form of ritual suicide that was once performed by the samurai of feudal Japan. The word translates to 'stomach cutting'. In Japan's warrior culture, the focal point of a man's soul is located close to the stomach -- the diaphragm, in fact. In Western culture, if you were to ask someone where they could find their soul, they would most likely gesture towards their chest and heart.

Seppuku was a special ritual used to restore a samurai's honor, avoid capture by enemies, and was sometimes performed by samurai out of loyalty to a master who had committed suicide, so as to join them in the afterlife. A samurai could be ordered to commit suicide by his master at any time.

When ronin Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the residence of Lord Iyi and requests the use of their court to perform hara-kiri, he is told a story about how the clan handled the last ronin who made such a request, and the horrific aftermath, but this second ronin is not dissuaded. Before long it is revealed that Tsugumo has another motive besides charity, or taking his own life.

Tsugumo is provided a white mat and space in the courtyard. All the house's retainers are required to attend, so that they might witness Tsugumo's dedication to honor. As is customary, the samurai performing hara-kiri is given a 'second' -- a samurai standing ready to decapitate him after he has cut open his own stomach, to end his suffering. As the ceremony is about to begin, Tsugumo begins to make requests, which delay the ceremony. But since he's being so honorable it is difficult for the lord of the house to refuse him.

What begins is akin to a Japanese version of 1,001 Arabian Nights, Tsugumo telling the tales of woe that led to his poverty and decision to commit hara-kiri. Very soon it becomes evident that the master of the house is not truly honorable. He just wants to see Tsugumo kill himself in order to keep up the appearance of honor, and once it becomes clear that Tsugumo has an ulterior motive, a thrilling tension sets in.

Presented in black and white, and subtitled, some might shy away from Hara-Kiri, but you'd be making a mistake. Director Kobayashi drives home the horrors of authoritarianism that demands a samurai must surrender his life for purely political reasons, an honor code that demands sacrifice but delivers no happiness. As a study of one man's fight against tyrannical injustice, this movie is an absolute gem. Tatsuya Nakadai is brilliant as the forlorn, beaten-down samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo, who uses the rigid formality and honor-boundedness of the samurai code against itself.

Filled with dramatic moments of happiness and heart-rending sadness, Hara-Kiri is phenomenal. There are some samurai sword fights, but Hara-Kiri is primarily a drama, not a chop-em-up samurai flick -- no heads or limbs drop to the ground, but there will be vengeance.