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Masaki Kobayashi’s samurai masterpieceHonour for the powerful. Cruelty for the rest.
Japan, 1630. An impoverished samurai arrives at the estate of the powerful Iyi clan, requesting permission to commit ritual suicide in its courtyard. Suspecting a ploy to obtain charity, the clan tells him what happened to the last man who made the same request. Their visitor listens. Then he begins his own story.
Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri puts the samurai code itself on trial. Beneath the grand declarations of duty and honour, it exposes a ruling class willing to sacrifice human lives to preserve its reputation.
Tatsuya Nakadai’s commanding performance anchors a film that moves from chilling stillness to explosive violence. With striking black and white widescreen photography and a story that tightens its grip with every revelation, Harakiri is both a gripping confrontation and a furious challenge to authority. Who gets to define honour, and who is made to pay for it?
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Event venue
Star and Shadow Cinema, 210 Warwick Street,Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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