Harakiri

“But let them laugh all they want. Who can fathom the depths of another man’s heart?” Harakiri, as the title suggests, examines ritual suicide, but more broadly it examines honor as a whole. tonally the film is quite pessimistic, (who would’ve thought?) but surprising this isn’t fully evident until the end. I like the narrative choices in this film, and it would be quite difficult to dance around spoilers as I would in other reviews, so in the spirit of keeping things consistent I won’t be talking about the key plot points. I seriously do implore you to watch this film, it is very much deserving of the praise. In strict reference to the structure of the story, it doesn’t get much better than this. The way the story unfolds, and particularly, the way the final act clarifies and justifies the behaviors of characters is extremely well done. Shockingly I have yet to fellate the Cinematography, but alas here I go. The framing of the scenes in this film are absolutely magnificent, the camera work and techniques along with the setting fuse to make something extraordinary. While the film naturally has various themes it’s seems the focal one is honor, more specifically the importance of it to the Iyi Clan. The performances are great, all actors did their jobs, particularly Tatsuya Nakadai (Hanshiro Tsugumo) he couldn’t have performed such a role any better. In summation, Harakiri unequivocally cements itself as one of the greatest Samurai films of all time, and with that, one of the greatest stories of the era. unbridled excellence. (5/5)