Movie Discussion: Harakiri (1962) by Masaki Kobayashi

"Who can fathom the depths of another man’s heart?" In 1630, Japan is no longer at war and the country is firmly ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate. Hanshirô Tsugumo, an unemployed ronin (wandering samurai), decides to knock on the door of the powerful Iyi clan. Received by Kageyu Saitô, the clan's steward, he asks his permission to perform suicide by harakiri in the residence. Trying to dissuade him, Saitô begins to tell him the story of a former ronin who also wanted to perform the same ritual... With magisterial storytelling, haunting cinematography, and a searing performance by Tatsuya Nakadai, Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri takes a sharp look at the conditioning of men by ancestral values, exposing the moral rot and hypocrisy beneath the glorified ideals of the samurai tradition.

"Harakiri illustrates the samurai code as a flawed system hiding behind a façade of honor and principle — it is undeniably the greatest anti-samurai film ever made." (Roger Ebert)

"Kobayashi wrings as much drama out of facial twitches as he does out of sword fights." (New Yorker)

"Whilst there is plenty of swordplay involved, it's the war of words and ideals that really captures the imagination." (Metacritic)

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Let's discuss the 1962 movie Harakiri (Japanese: 切腹) directed by the great Japanese filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi, loosely based on a story by Yasuhiko Takiguchi. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is presently the top-rated film on Letterboxd. We previously discussed Kobayashi's The Human Condition, his acclaimed trilogy about Japanese soldiers during the Second World War.

Please watch the movie in advance (133 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting.

You can stream it here (check the player settings for English subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it on Criterion or other platforms online.

A trailer.

Check out other movie discussions in the group every Friday and occasionally other days.