Takashi Miike’s remake of the samurai classic…
Read my review of the original Harakiri here.
Takashi Miike is one of the world’s best directors, although for a while there it was maybe not immediately apparent. Cloaking his movies in the most taboo and forbidden subject matter and releasing seven of them a year, it was at times hard to gauge Miike’s true abilities; for every Ichi the Killer, we got an Andromedia. But the director slowed his pace down to two-three movies a year, and in 2010 he released what might go down as his masterpiece: the samurai epic 13 Assassins. Taking his time made all the difference in the world - we all knew he was good, we just didn’t know he was that good. So when word came out that Miike would next set his sights on remaking Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri, everyone was excited to see another samurai film from the prolific director. I’m sorry to report that Miike’s Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai doesn’t live up to the original classic (or even his own 13 Assassins), but the director still manages to put out a worthwhile effort nonetheless.
Miike sticks pretty close to the original, a story of a down-on-his-luck ronin who comes to a lord’s house and requests an honorable death by his own hand. Interspersed throughout are subtle little changes, such as the limp that Koji Yakusho gives his version of the corrupted counselor of the House Iyi, or the strange fascination with cats throughout. Also greatly expanded upon (slightly to the film’s detriment) is the flashback explaining main character Tsugomo’s backstory - played out during the entire middle stretch of the film, rather than intercut throughout the present-day story. On the one hand, this deepens our connection to Tsugomo by showing the audience his and his family’s plight. On the other, the sheer length of the sequence drags the film screeching to a halt, as scenes play out for far too long and are shot rather blandly, with uncharacteristic restraint on Miike’s part.
Considering Miike’s track record, it would have been easy to bet that the brutal violence of the original would only be expanded upon, but Miike surprisingly delivers a movie far less graphic than its predecessor (aside from the seppuku by bamboo sword - that’s every bit as horrifying here as it was in the original). The whole film plays out as too reserved - where the original had a very measured pace only to then explode into violence at the end, here Miike builds the story slowly to a kind of whimper instead of the bang of Kobayashi’s film. One of the biggest changes at the end is Tsugomo using a wooden sword to take on the entire clan, thus greatly reducing the violent content. It’s a strong idea, and ties in nicely with the previous events depicted in the film, but the final fight itself lacks the explosive energy of the original. Which brings us to another problem: one of the most powerful elements of 1962’s Harakiri was that energy; a sort of raw, unbridled anger at the social systems of its day. Miike’s film - being more or less the same story with the same thematic content - makes the same commentary, but feels hollow and slightly mechanical; arriving at the same conclusions by going through the same motions, whereas Kobayashi’s film was urgent and immediate - making the message hit home with far more power and weight.
It would be unfair to compare Ebizo Ichikawa’s performance to Tatsuya Nakadai, being that Nakadai gave one of his all-time great performances in the original Harakiri. But even so, Ichikawa handles the role pretty well - honestly portraying the systematic breaking down of a once-great warrior piece by soul-crushing piece. The whole cast acquits themselves well, most notably Koji Yakusho as Kageyu Saito, the “villain” of the original film. Yakusho injects a bit more sympathy into his portrayal, making the character slightly more empathetic to Tsugomo, without losing any of his unwavering fealty to the facade of bushido. And although the overall thematic weight comes nowhere near the gut-punch ending of the original, Miike still finds a way to keep the very last scene meaningful - focusing on that same empty suit of armor Kobayashi got so much mileage out of for his film.
In the end, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai can’t help but feel like anything other than a disappointment - both as a remake and a follow-up to Miike’s previous samurai outing. But even so, it’s a well-made affectation, and worth seeing… If only to compare it to the original.
* Minor note: for some reason this film was originally shot in 3D. I have no idea what the benefit of seeing a quiet character drama in 3D is, but then again, I have no idea what the benefit of seeing any movie in 3D is.
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