I bought the Criterion Collection release of this and it came with a really nice booklet featuring an interview a professor/historian had with the director. It was an interesting read and made me focus a lot more on details when I watched it the second time. Mr. Kobayashi talked about the geometry of certain scenes, for example, and his influences. I thought it was primarily about honor but it's much more of a fight-the-man kind of piece. Tsugumo is an individual standing up to an entire system by himself in order to protest the inherent unfairness. It's a much more powerful film this way. Originally posted 7/22/13
I can't believe I totally forgot to write a post for this movie. I watched it last week and even wrote it down on my wish list for a future Buy but I never actually did my review. I suck, you guys.If only there were some sort of ritualistic death one could perform to abrogate shame...
Anyway, this is a fantastic film. It clocks in at over two hours but it doesn't feel that long. Even though it's 90% dialogue, it had zero problems keeping my interest.
A ronin named Tsugumo Hanshiro (Tatsuya Nakadai) shows up at the Iyi Clan house and politely asks the use of their foreyard to commit hara-kiri -ritual disembowelment- in, as he has fallen upon hard times and would rather an honorable death than a slow one by starvation. In the relatively peaceful time, many samurai have found themselves without masters and with no other skills. However, some enterprising ronin have taken to asking for space to kill themselves when they really want to guilt the house into giving them some money instead. In an effort to forestall this, the Steward (Rentaro Mikuni) tells Tsugumo the cautionary tale of the last ronin who came by: Chijiiwa Motome (Akira Ishihama). In return, Tsugumo tells the Steward his story.
Everything else you need to see for yourself. It's a beautiful piece on the concept of honor, bringing the philosophy to life in a poignant and powerful way.
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