Harakiri (1962 film)

Harakiri , Seppuku? , 1962 is a Japanese jidaigeki perioddrama film directed by Masaki Kobayashi. The story takes place between 1619 and 1630 during the Edo period and the reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. It tells the story of Hanshir Tsugumo, a warrior without a lord. At the time, it was common for masterless samurai, or rnin, to request to commit hara kiri in the palace courtyard in the hope of receiving alms from the remaining feudal lords.

Motome arrived at the palace a few months earlier and made the same request as Hanshir. Infuriated by the rising number of suicide bluffs, the three most senior samurai of the clanYazaki Hayato, Kawabe Umenosuke, and Omodaka Hikokuropersuaded Sait to force Motome to follow through and kill himself. Upon examining Motomes swords, their blades were found to be made of bamboo. Enraged that any samurai would pawn his soul, the House of Ii forced Motome to disembowel himself with his own bamboo blade, making his death slow, agonizingly painful, and deeply humiliating.Despite this warning, Hanshir insists that he has never heard of Motome and says that he has no intention of leaving the Ii palace alive. After a suicide pavilion is set up in the courtyard of the palace, Hanshir is asked to name the samurai who shall behead him when the ritual is complete. To the shock of Sait and the Ii retainers, Hanshir successively names Hayato, Umenosuke, and Hikokurothe three samurai who coerced the suicide of Motome. When messengers are dispatched to summon them, all three decline to come, saying they are suffering from a lifethreatening illness. ........

Source: Wikipedia