Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai Log

Love. Honour. Revenge.

Anyone would expect that a Miike Takashi directed feature, auteur of such outlandishly violent works as Ichi the Killer, remaking a 1962 film of the same name famed for its brutal depiction of Harakiri (an act of suicide via slicing open the stomach in order to regain honour for yourself, family and clan) and a subsequent revenge plot would contain copious amounts of the blood and guts he is oh so fond of in his films.

Chibiwa's 'suicide bluff' led to his self impaling
with this bamboo stick.

However, it appears the film is used as a genuine retreat from his more common practice of film making as he deviates somewhat into the highly staged Jidaigeki (period drama), with historical features and melodrama in abundance. Little violence is actually used throughout the film, thus allowing it to retain its potential shock and intensity value for when it does occur; the self committing act of harakiri upon Eita's character, Chibiwa Motome, by use of a replica bamboo sword was largely successful on its bid to make us uncomfortable and horrified by the act. So much so in fact, that a person wa reduced to passing out at the screening I attended. Without a doubt, this shows an increased awareness on Takashi's behalf of the tact which much be used in handling in violence and just how to keep it effective in creating the desired atmosphere, making for an overall more mature film and director. 

Hanshiro exacting revenge.

In contrast however, this maturity comes at a cost, as Takashi insists on developing unneccesary long, verbose character backgrounds in what could be displayed in minutes whilst still holding on to the emotional investment. Although this does raise the idea that Takashi's prior films perhpas weren't constructed constructed with excess violence in mind, but just the excess itself. Indeed, excess violence was replaced with emotional excess - Chibiwa's wife rocking back and forth holding her freshly deceased baby, Chibiwa's severed head and accompanying body arriving by courier to the house and a subsequent rage of vengeance by his Father in Law over extreme displays of violence certainly provides evidence for this theory of "excess".