Directed by Masaki Kobayashi • 1962 • Japan
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Rentaro Mikuni, Akira Ishihama
Following the collapse of his clan, an unemployed samurai (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to be allowed to commit ritual suicide on the property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for a new position, try to force his hand and get him to eviscerate himself, but they have underestimated his beliefs and his personal brand of honor. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, HARAKIRI, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, is a fierce evocation of individual agency in the face of a corrupt and hypocritical system.
Up Next in Samurai
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Lady Snowblood
Directed by Toshiya Fujita • 1973 • Japan
Starring Meiko Kaji, Ko Nishimura, Toshio KurosawaGory revenge is raised to the level of visual poetry in Toshiya Fujita’s stunning LADY SNOWBLOOD. A major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s KILL BILL saga, this endlessly inventive film, set in late ni...
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Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki • 1954 • Japan
Starring Toshiro Mifune, Rentaro Mikuni, Kuroemon OnoeIn the first part of the epic Samurai Trilogy, Toshiro Mifune thunders onto the screen as the iconic title character. When we meet him, Miyamoto is a wide-eyed romantic, dreaming of military glory i...
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The Tale of Zatoichi
ZATOICHI #1
Directed by Kenji Misumi • 1962 • JapanThe epic saga of Zatoichi begins. As tensions mount between rival yakuza clans, one boss hires a formidable but ailing ronin as his clan’s muscle, while the other employs a humble, moral blind masseur named Ichi. With its lightning-fast swordpl...
