Seppuku 1962

IMDB rating 8.3. This popular dvd release is out of print, discontinued and hard to find, so these are the last copies I have for sale.

Peace in 17th-century Japan causes the Shogunate's breakup of warrior clans, throwing thousands of samurai out of work and into poverty. An honorable end to such fate under the samurai code is ritual suicide, or hara-kiri (self-inflicted disembowelment). An elder warrior, Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) seeks admittance to the house of a feudal lord to commit the act. There, he learns of the fate of his son-in-law, a young samurai who sought work at the house but was instead barbarically forced to commit traditional hara-kiri in an excruciating manner with a dull bamboo blade. In flashbacks the samurai tells the tragic story of his son-in-law, and how he was forced to sell his real sword to support his sick wife and child. Tsugumo thus sets in motion a tense showdown of revenge against the house.

The film of rare power and humanism, of highest artistic achievements, profoundly moving, tragic like the best Shakespeare's plays, universal and timeless even if it takes place in the faraway country of 1630, by the words of one of the reviewers "Harakiri" "is to cinema as the Sistine Chapel is to painting. Unsurpassable!"

DVD is new and sealed. Original Japanese spoken language, optional subtitles in ENGLISH, and Czech. Czech dubbing is also available. Region 2 pal dvd. Original and official Czech dvd release comes in a slim dvd case. Please check your dvd player compability.


Please note: My listings now quote "economy shipping", although I will continue to send items via regular air mail. This is only to protect myself from hasty buyers opening 'items not received' cases too early, as Ebay's delivery estimates have been allowing that.

Note 2: If you want registered shipping, this is available for usually 2 gbp extra. The standard air mail shipping I use by default does not include tracking.