← Back to Reviews
in
Harakiri (1962)
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Cast overview: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akiri Ishihama
Running time: 133 minutes
This is a challenging film, I don't doubt that, and it was made perhaps even more challenging for me as it's the first Japanese film I've watched, and probably one of the first foreign films I've seen given that the majority of my viewing over my lifetime has been mostly British and US film. This is a stark and radical departure from those sorts of films.
It centres around a samurai who arrives a feudal lord's home and asks for a place to commit suicide - the word harakiri, I believe, refers to the act of suicide. Now, I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed this film, because I didn't much. I found it very difficult to watch, again probably an effect of my lack of experience of this sort of cinema. It seems to be a completely different style of film-making to what we in the west are used to.
Now the film is certainly well-made - I loved the black-and-white cinematography and I thought the music was very good. It's a nice-looking film and it's done well. But there was very little I gained from it. Maybe that wasn't the point of it. A problem I also found was that, despite the subtitles, most of the actors barely move their lips when speaking, so I often found it difficult to tell who was speaking. Perhaps that was an issue with the copy of the film I watched, but I don't think it was, as I've seen a couple of others report similar issues.
Perhaps the main problem was that I found it dull. That may well be a problem with me, or more a problem that stems from my notable lack of exposure to films such as this, but I can't help it if I found something dull, and unfortunately that was - aside from a couple of exceptions, notably the opening - the experience I had. It seems very highly regarded by most film-watchers but it just wasn't for me. I'll perhaps come back to it one day when I've explored some other foreign cinema that may be more to my liking.
Quotes
Hanshiro Tsugumo: Swordsmanship untested in battle is like the art of swimming mastered on land.
Hanshiro Tsugumo: The suspicious mind conjures its own demons.
Hanshiro Tsugumo: What befalls others today, may be your own fate tomorrow.
Trivia
While filming, Tatsuya Nakadai was afraid during most of the sword and spear fighting scenes because real swords were being used, a practice now forbidden in Japanese films. His concern was not alleviated even though professional swordsmen were employed during the choreographed swordplay.
Stage-trained actor Tatsuya Nakadai and older film actor Rentarô Mikuni could not agree on an acceptable speaking voice while sharing the film stage. Nakadai spoke loudly and Mikuni spoke softly each citing their related acting experiences for their choice. They strongly disagreed with each other. The director, Masaki Kobayashi, halted filming and stated that he would not resume until both the actors came to an agreement. They did; stopping the shooting for three days!
Seppuku and harakiri (the US working title) both mean to commit ritual suicide in Japanese. However, seppuku is the formal term, derived from the kanji characters for "hara" (belly) and "kiri" (cut); harakiri is the cruder, less polite term for this act.
Trailer
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Cast overview: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akiri Ishihama
Running time: 133 minutes
This is a challenging film, I don't doubt that, and it was made perhaps even more challenging for me as it's the first Japanese film I've watched, and probably one of the first foreign films I've seen given that the majority of my viewing over my lifetime has been mostly British and US film. This is a stark and radical departure from those sorts of films.
It centres around a samurai who arrives a feudal lord's home and asks for a place to commit suicide - the word harakiri, I believe, refers to the act of suicide. Now, I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed this film, because I didn't much. I found it very difficult to watch, again probably an effect of my lack of experience of this sort of cinema. It seems to be a completely different style of film-making to what we in the west are used to.
Now the film is certainly well-made - I loved the black-and-white cinematography and I thought the music was very good. It's a nice-looking film and it's done well. But there was very little I gained from it. Maybe that wasn't the point of it. A problem I also found was that, despite the subtitles, most of the actors barely move their lips when speaking, so I often found it difficult to tell who was speaking. Perhaps that was an issue with the copy of the film I watched, but I don't think it was, as I've seen a couple of others report similar issues.
Perhaps the main problem was that I found it dull. That may well be a problem with me, or more a problem that stems from my notable lack of exposure to films such as this, but I can't help it if I found something dull, and unfortunately that was - aside from a couple of exceptions, notably the opening - the experience I had. It seems very highly regarded by most film-watchers but it just wasn't for me. I'll perhaps come back to it one day when I've explored some other foreign cinema that may be more to my liking.
Quotes
Hanshiro Tsugumo: Swordsmanship untested in battle is like the art of swimming mastered on land.
Hanshiro Tsugumo: The suspicious mind conjures its own demons.
Hanshiro Tsugumo: What befalls others today, may be your own fate tomorrow.
Trivia
While filming, Tatsuya Nakadai was afraid during most of the sword and spear fighting scenes because real swords were being used, a practice now forbidden in Japanese films. His concern was not alleviated even though professional swordsmen were employed during the choreographed swordplay.
Stage-trained actor Tatsuya Nakadai and older film actor Rentarô Mikuni could not agree on an acceptable speaking voice while sharing the film stage. Nakadai spoke loudly and Mikuni spoke softly each citing their related acting experiences for their choice. They strongly disagreed with each other. The director, Masaki Kobayashi, halted filming and stated that he would not resume until both the actors came to an agreement. They did; stopping the shooting for three days!
Seppuku and harakiri (the US working title) both mean to commit ritual suicide in Japanese. However, seppuku is the formal term, derived from the kanji characters for "hara" (belly) and "kiri" (cut); harakiri is the cruder, less polite term for this act.
Trailer