Film opinion: A deeper look at the cinematic masterpiece Harakiri
If you’d describe yourself as somewhat of a so-called ‘film nerd’, there’s a good chance you've heard of the movie-rating app called Letterboxd, and you’ll also know that any film with anything over a 4.0 rating, is generally regarded as a great film.
Harakiri has a rating of 4.7 and is the only film to go above the infamous 4.6 mark.
So, with this Masaki Kobayashi classic beating the likes of 12 Angry Men, Come and See, and The Godfather to the number-one spot, Film News Blitz’s Joe Matthews got down to his local cinema to take a look.
Getting down to the big screen
Being a final year university student, I’ve been spending a somewhat unsavoury amount of time at the library tapping away at a keyboard, so when I saw that just a 12-minute walk away, Harakiri was being shown on the big screen, I absolutely had to get myself down there - and for those who say it was just an excuse to get away from the books, you might not be wrong.
Regardless, whilst it is true I will take any excuse I can to get both into the cinema and out of the library, I definitely feel as though Harakiri would’ve counted as a worthy exception.
And oh how worth it it was.
But what even is Harakiri?
Harakiri, also known as Seppuku, is a traditional Samurai suicide ritual often performed to restore honour or avoid capture in battle.
It involves disembowelling oneself with a short sword and is showered in respect and ceremonial precision.
With the film taking on the same name, the 135 minutes of this movie centre around the stories of two cases of Harakiri, but with a twist.
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Without spoiling some rather pivotal details, the story of Harakiri essentially follows a samurai whose house has fallen - known as a ronin (a masterless samurai seeking a new purpose) - who seeks a worthy location to perform his Harakiri.
However, in 1630, when the film is set, it had become apparent that ronins around the country had been showing up on the doorsteps of clan domains, claiming to want a place to commit Harakiri, when in reality they would happily accept a small donation, coupled with being able to keep their lives.
With this in mind, the senior members of the House of Iyi become suspicious of the motives of their new guest, and decide to tell him a story.
From that moment on, several revelations become apparent, and the tense environment established by the opening seconds only ramps up as we learn more and more about the situation.
So, how does it hold up?
Put simply, despite Harakiri edging towards its 70th birthday, Kobayashi’s film-making methods had me in absolute awe throughout, and I don’t think I can recommend it enough, should you get the opportunity to watch it in the cinema.
The display of utter cinematographic expertise is genuinely awe-inspiring, and there is a certain scene in the latter stages which would certainly place highly in my ‘best movie scenes of all time’ list.
The only thing I can say without crossing the line of ruining said scene, is that if it were a battle involving any Chris Evans character ever, you would’ve without doubt heard him say ‘are we going to fight or what?’
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I can’t tell you how pleased I was with what I witnessed instead.
Look, regardless of your categorical film preferences, Harakiri is one of the few films I would implore any film fan to go out and watch.
I’ve read several reviews and comments saying how they saw the world differently once it came to a close, and whilst I don’t know if it had this effect on me, (who am I kidding? I just waffled about a ‘display of utter cinematographic expertise’- I mean, who even does that?) I can certainly see where they are coming from.
In light of this, I’ll make it nice and simple for you, just go and watch it if you get the chance - it’s pretty good.
