Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Tweekums In seventeenth Century Japan it is a time of relative peace and samurai who were in service to defeated warlords have fallen on hard times. One, Hanshiro, goes to the local castle asking if he me commit hara-kiri, ritual suicide, in the castle courtyard. Before granting permission he is told the story of Motome, another poor samurai from the same clan as Hanshiro, who made a similar request a year before. Several others had made similar requests but changed their minds when offered money; suspecting Motome is another 'suicide bluffer' they decide to make an example of him and force him to go ahead with his suicide; even after he begs for three ryo for his sick wife, Miho, and child… not only that he must use his wooden bladed sword. This is slow and agonising. We then learn that Hanshiro not only knew Motome but is his father in-law and now he wants revenge. In flashback we then see Hanshiro and Motome's past and how the latter became so desperate. We then return to Hanshiro's present for the inevitably tragic conclusion.I have yet to see the original film so can't say how this compares. Judging it on its own I can say I really enjoyed it even if it was far from the 'samurai action film' I'd expected. The scene where Motome is forced to disembowel himself with a wooden sword is painfully gruelling to watch as it goes on and on… even though it doesn't dwell on the wounds inflicted it is a hard watch; and rightly so. When we learn of his connection to Hanshiro that painful scene explains why he is so desperate to show how a real samurai lives and dies. The cast does a fine job; most notably Ebizô Ichikawa, Eita and Hikari Mitsushima as Hanshiro, Motome and Miho respectively. Takashi Miike's direction is impressively subtle given his reputation over-the-top violence. Overall I'd recommend this; just don't expect lots of action; this is about character.

adrongardner Let's get this out of the way. Kobayashi's hard hitting "Harakiri" is a masterpiece. It's one of the great pieces of not only Japanese cinema, but also one of the best movies of the 20th century. While I'm disappointed the film was remade at all, and surprised it came from Miike, there are still good things to be found here. To my surprise, for the most part, this is a good movie and in very small quantities, there are some true moments of greatness. Even if they are very short.A good deal of the original film's grit is lost for most of this go around. The cinematography is over-lit and the pacing falls into lulls. But survive to the end and you will be rewarded as the final irony is quite powerful. I mean, no spoilers from me, but even with the cheesy fake snow, I have to say, Ebizô Ichikawa's powerful presence won me over and he truly wins the day when the time calls for it. I was never too crazy about all the Kurosawa remakes of the 60s and 70s. Fistful of Dollars always felt like a cheap knock-off, because it is. The Magnificent Seven was sort of a tolerable chuckle. Kurosawa's films were so human, almost populist, because of their themes, his work was ripe for remake, reboot or even plagiarism. Only Star Wars seemed to get the joke and succeed in being something different than a pure Hidden Fortress copy. Kobayashi's Harakiri seemed to escape the trend for so long because of the subject matter - even the title! But here we are. There is still something not right about this "remake," but MIike gets it right in the end, even if never needed to be done in the first place.

Reno Rangan Takashi returns to the samurai world after the success of '13 assassins' in 2011. This movie was a remake of 1962 'Harakiri' which was also a massive hit movie. I have not seen the original but this movie blown me away. As usual the story opens slow and hard to identify the situation of the story but at the right middle of the movie the flashback strikes with awesome drama about poverty and family sentiment. Once the flashback was told you will easily say where the movie is heading. The story was classic and the movie was presented with rich cinematography. The first digital 3D movie for Takashi Miike as well the first 3D movie to premier at 2011 Cannes film festival.You have to learn a word to understand the movie completely. 'Seppuku' - which means ritual suicide committed by a samurai. So that is why it's called 'Hara-kiri: death of a samurai'. You must have patience during opening sequences, without character and story development you will be in a tough position to understand about what's going on. While the story and character progress with the development you will start to get and you may fall for the emotion parts if you are a tenderhearted. And also you will be uncomfortable during 'seppuku' scene.Takashi Miike's career best, this is what already everyone saying about it. But Its to hard to say which was his best, I like many of his works. I might be overwhelmed by the watch but will be happy to recommend it to others. I was very little unhappy for the ending scene otherwise I could have said it is the best of Takashi's work.I am so curious about Takashi Miike's upcoming and Hollywood debutante project 'The outside' with Tom Hardy. Expecting it would be another 'The last samurai', I wish a good luck to the team.

redandblue323 A recent remake of a superior Japanese revenge tale from the early 60's. I have seen several of this director's films and I have been impressed with all of them, but this film ultimately left me wondering what the point was. All the elements of the story - revenge, family, samurai honor, tragedy, poverty, peace and war - had been brought together much more successfully in the original film. Story-wise, this is a straightforward adaptation of the original movie but it rearranges some plot elements. We see a few scenes that were done off-camera in the original, such as Motome Chijiwa selling his swords. We also see Motome's face after he is dead - was this really necessary? Compare this scene with the original - the latter is much effective. The only element this film did a bit better than the original was its depiction of the grinding poverty that faced Motome, Hanshiro and Miho. To be sure, this is a beautiful film. The shots are composed in an artful manner, and the colors are gorgeous. It was cool to see the blood-red armor of the house of Iyi that we missed in the original 1962 movie because it was black and white. Other than those points, none of which are essential to the soul of the movie, I would say skip the remake and watch the original. You won't be disappointed.