Harakiri
Harakiri is a 1962 film from Japan, directed by Masaki Kobayashi, running 135 minutes. reelscum files it under chanbara.
- Year
- 1962 · 1960s films
- Country
- Japan
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Director
- Masaki Kobayashi
- Updated
- 10 Aug 2026
- Obscurity
- canon (13/100)
Defined in the glossary: Chanbara
A ronin asks to commit suicide in a lord's courtyard. What follows dismantles the whole code.
Masaki Kobayashi's masterpiece, and one of the finest films Japan produced in any genre. An aging ronin arrives at a feudal lord's estate requesting the use of the courtyard to commit ritual suicide, and through a long, patient flashback the film exposes the cruelty and hypocrisy hiding behind the samurai code of honour.
It is a chanbara film that turns the sword film against itself, and its final act of violence is a genuine reckoning. Tatsuya Nakadai is extraordinary. This is the serious end of the tradition, and it is essential.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 8 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Filed alongside
Shogun Assassin
Two Lone Wolf and Cub films chopped into one English dub. A grindhouse legend regardless.
Lady Snowblood
Where Kill Bill got most of its ideas, including the snow.
Samurai Rebellion
Kobayashi and Mifune against feudal authority again. It builds slowly and then it does not stop.
Sword of Doom
A swordsman with no morals and no motive cuts his way through the film. It stops rather than ends.
Zatoichi: The Tale of Zatoichi
The blind masseur who is also the deadliest swordsman alive. The first of twenty-five-plus.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
A disgraced executioner and his toddler take the assassin's road. The pram has blades in it.
Goyokin
A samurai returns to stop the massacre he could not prevent the first time. Shot in real snow.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
The best of the series. A pram, a snowfield, and a small army that should have stayed home.