Harakiri is a timeless parable of poverty, charity, family, class, honor, cruelty, ritual disembowelment and, last but most important of all, dimples.
If Dickens himself had been born in Japan, he could not have written a more compelling, anguished story than is told by this film.
I first saw the Takashi Miike remake of this 1962 classic when I randomly chose “Hara-Kiri: Death of aSamurai” on Netflix Streaming the other night. I was instantly captivated. The dread and foreboding in the first few scenes captured so well, it is no wonder that Miike is best known for modern horror classics like “Audition” and “Ichi the Killer.” But this is no mere horror movie. The horror of it all is the key to a door leading to an infinite number of larger themes, the most elemental of which are listed above. As Alfred Hitchcock knew so well, suspense is much more horrifying than the splatter violence so many of us are desensitized to by now.
Unlike Hitchcock, neither Harakiri (1962) nor Hara-Kire (2011) takes enjoyment in the cruelty which it depicts. It is there, bold and beautiful, but with purpose. No jouissance, as Zizek would say.
I am glad that I saw the remake first. The first act of the remake is superior to the original. The actors in the 1962 film sound almost like they are simply reading lines. The cinematography and the editing – especially Miike’s use of silence – is exquisite. However, it is the second act when the remake begins to veer off course into a muddled, sentimental version of this timeless story. I would not call it bad, but the original was smoothly paced and never left me waiting for a scene to be over.
Ultimately, it is difficult to recommend to anyone else which one to view first. I am glad I saw the remake first and then the original. Although it was not a perfect viewing experience, I got to see the best first scene first and the best last scene last: so yeah, there’s that. But I have not had, and cannot physically have, any other experience to recommend to others: so yeah, there’s that too.
As an American, I do not recall ever seeing a foreign remake of a foreign film from the same country. It is quite interesting. I have been supremely disappointed in the past, enraged even, watching classic films – The Omen comes to mind – being remade into downright trash for purely commercial purposes. If you have seen the original film and love it, I do not recommend watching the remake without this caveat.
Most remakes, in my experience, are done for commercial exploitation, however I feel like there was more than just commercial exploitation intended here. There was definitely some of that. There is no other way to explain why any film is made in 3D after 2009.
But at the end of the day, I have had one of those film experiences that I cannot stop thinking about long after the credits have rolled. I look forward to repeat viewings of both films.
