From controversial, visionary auteur Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) comes the story of a mysterious samurai who arrives at the doorstep of his feudal lord, requesting an honorable death by ritual suicide in his courtyard. The lord threatens him with the brutal tale of Motome, a desperate young ronin who made a similar request with ulterior motives, only to meet a grisly end. Undaunted, the samurai begins to tell a story of his own, with an ending no one could see coming. With stunning cinematography and gripping performances, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (a remake of the 1962 classic Hari-Kiri, directed by Masaki Kobayashi) is a thrilling exploration of revenge, honor, and individuality in the face of oppressive power.

Seeing these samurai films, I often reflect about my Japanese samurai ancestors, this ritual suicide of hara-kiri, and how important honor & “saving face” were to my culture. What a grisly way to die if you don’t know how hara-kiri is done. See the movie for the true story of these samurai.