Harakiri

Praise all the chthonic spirits that Berkeley Public Library has such a good film library. I finally got back to watching samurai movies last night, and it was a gem, a psychological thriller that burns slowly until the very end, Harakiri. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the introduction by Donald Richie, the doyen of Japanese cinema, to play, but what to do, neh? Surprisingly, there wasn't a full commentary, usually a feature of Criterion Films, especially for a 2 disc set.

I got to tick that one off the list of the 50 Greatest Samurai Movies that I got from a book which unfortunately I can't find the title of. Tatsuya Nakadai, familiar from Akira Kurosawa's films, was excellent. It's one of those anti-authoritarian early 60s samurai movies similar to Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro, but with much more pathos.

I highly recommend it.