7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.9 |
An tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.
Starring: Koji Yakusho, Hikari Mitsushima, Naoto Takenaka, Eita Nagayama, Ebizô IchikawaForeign | 100% |
Drama | 33% |
Period | 13% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A lot of complaints can be (and have been) lobbed toward Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, but few would ever accuse the prolific auteur of lacking range. Some of Miike’s work has been intentionally provocative, with such films as Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins and Audition causing international outrage for their unflinching depictions of violence and (some would allege) perversity. But snuggled up against these controversial outings are weird and wacky fare like Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City and the completely outré The Happiness of the Katakuris. These five films are only the tip of a very large and disparate iceberg, but they give at least some indication of the fact that Miike is a filmmaker seemingly obsessed with not being pigeonholed. Hara-Kiri: The Death of a Samurai is far from Miike’s most violent piece, and while it is nowhere near as intense as 13 Assassins, might be compared to that film if for no other reason than both outings are remakes of earlier films and both seek to reinvent the mythos of the samurai. Miike’s samurai films often have probably intentional stylistic and thematic links to American Westerns, and if 13 Assassins might be thought of as Miike’s “Peckinpah” film, Hara-Kiri: The Death of a Samurai might be more aptly compared to Anthony Mann, for the film relies less on outright action than it does on slow and deliberate exposition and character development. (Miike fans will already know that he actually did do his own version of a "traditional" western with Sukiyaki Western Django, which of course under Miike's hand was far from traditional.)
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of American Express (see my comments in the
supplements section), Tribeca Film and New Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. It's a little strange that
Miike first chose to film this in color and then also chose to pursue a deliberately tamped down palette that emphasizes
browns and blacks, with only occasional splashes of bright color to alleviate the general visual tedium. The film is also
incredibly dark a lot of the time, as can clearly be seen in the screenshots accompanying this review. But all of that
said, this high definition presentation is largely without flaw, with a beautifully natural film like appearance, excellent fine
detail (even in midrange shots) and generally excellent contrast and black levels. There are some niggling issues with
shadow detail which are probably endemic to the source elements.
It's worth noting that this film was released theatrically in a 3D version, while the Blu-ray offers only a 2D version. The 3D
choice might seem odd, for there really isn't much obvious exploitation of depth of field or even "gimmicks" in Miike's
framings, which leads me to believe the 3D presentation must have been relatively restrained, much like the film itself.
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai features lossless DTS-HD Master Audio in both 5.1 and 2.0 formats. Both of these tracks offer superior fidelity, but perhaps surprisingly the often evocative ambient environmental sound effects are somewhat more present in the 2.0 mix, where they're focused equally across the soundstage, while in the 5.1 mix they tend to be at least slightly more diffuse. That said, the 5.1 track does offer some very appealing surround activity, and not necessarily in the big action set pieces. Some of the most effective immersion is in the quieter moments, when such activity as the breeze rippling through the leaves or the sound of a sudden rainstorm creates a very vivid sonic experience. Dialogue is always cleanly presented in both of these tracks, and dynamic range, while not extremely wide, does feature some occasional bursts of sonic activity that provide some variety.
Longtime fans of Miike may not initially know exactly what to make of Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, for it is a rather restrained exercise (at least by typical Miike standards) that takes its time and requires the viewer to just kind of relax and surrender to the film's slow but steady development of characters and ideas. This isn't to say that there is a complete lack of gruesome material, for there are at least two unbelievably disturbing sequences in the film that are much more in tune with some of Miike's more violent precursors. But Hara-Kari: Death of a Samurai doesn't rely on that kind of material for its power, and that is in fact one of the film's central accomplishments. Purists may well want to stick with the original 1962 version, but this remake has its own cogent points to make and at the very least makes an extremely commendable companion piece to the Kobayashi classic. This Blu-ray offers beautiful (if often quite dark) video and excellent video, and even without much in the way of supplementary material, comes Highly recommended.
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山椒大夫 / Sanshô dayû
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2013
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