Post Description

SEPPUKU (1962)

AKAs:
Harakiri (USA)

imdb.com/title/tt0056058/
User Rating: 8.1/10   5,099 votes


Criterion Collection # 302

DVD Release Date: August 23, 2005




Director: Masaki Kobayashi

Description:
Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi's clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself -- but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.


READ:
Harakiri: Kobayashi and History
by Joan Mellen
criterion.com/current/posts/381


Format: NTSC

DVD Size: 6.75 + 1.85 GB -- Exact Untouched Copy

Runtime (main feature): 81 minutes

Type: Black and White

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 | Anamorphic

Sound (main feature): Japanese

Subtitles: optional English


SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

# New, restored high-definition digital transfer.
# Exclusive video introduction by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie.
# Rare excerpt of a Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, moderated by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide).
# New video interviews with star Tatsuya Nakadai and screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto.
# Poster gallery.
# Original theatrical trailer.
# New and improved English subtitle translation.


Studio: Criterion

Posted in: a.b.dvd.criterion
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