A classic, surviving the test of time -- made in 1962 about 17th century people. Here in 2005, we still watch and discuss the film and the issues that it raises. Tsugumo Hanshiro, a middle-aged ronin formerly serving a clan abolished by the Shogunate, appears at the Ii clan gate. He wishes to commit seppuku rather than live on in poverty. In his inner headquarters, Saito Kageyu, the chief retainer, bemoans the fact that hordes of starving ronin have been making similar requests at clan gates; most have wanted handouts rather than to actually commit seppuku. Kageyu suspects the same of Hanshiro. Kageyu attempts to discourage Hanshiro. He tells a tale of another ronin from the same abolished clan, Chijiiwa Motome.
Motome had appeared a few months earlier, with a request, but had carried bamboo sword blades the clan members had been enraged. As an example to other scrounging ronin, particularly those without real blades, the clan decided to force Motome to commit seppuku with his own bamboo wakizashi.
Hanshiro tells his own life story. The film shows us some historical background. Thousands of ex-retainers had been thrown out of their positions, made into ronin, by the Shogunate's abolishing of clans. In the rigid class system (samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants), these displaced ex-retainers had no place at all, being forced into marginal subsistence. Most trades (because they required long periods of apprenticeship) were out for most ronin. Many ronin became outlaws or obtained bodyguard positions for gangsters. If law-abiding, they were able to teach in schools for commoner children. Or become piecework artisans; they could contract with wholesalers (who also lent money) to make fans, umbrellas, insect cages, ink brushes, and the like. Even as most ronin had to fend for themselves in this netherworld, they still were to carry the two swords of their original rank, and to uphold their obligations. Hanshiro and his daughter Miho make umbrellas and fans to sell to wholesalers for a pittance; Hanshiro is in debt to one of the wholesalers. Motome teaches commoner children and receives a minimal wage for his work.
Miho and Motome marry and have a son. All goes well until sickness strikes. Miho contracts consumption and the child contracts a fever. Neither Hanshiro nor Motome can afford a doctor. Motome attempts to get a laborer job (which pays more than teaching does) and runs straight into job discrimination: "no starving ronin need apply." Motome sells his sword blades at a pawnshop, obtaining bamboo blades to wear inside his sword fittings, not an uncommon practice; some ronin (and some low-ranked clan samurai) desperately needed money. And yet, the sword was considered to be "the soul of the bushi." A bushi who sold his blades had to appear to wear the badge of his rank. The bamboo blades were available, thus no one would know of the despicable act of having sold his "soul" for money.
But Motome has not received enough; he still cannot afford a doctor. So Motome decides on something more desperate: to appear at a clan gate, with his hidden bamboo blades, in order to request seppuku -- with the actual intention of receiving a handout to get a doctor for his wife and child. The Ii clan officials have decided differently. The scene where Motome must commit seppuku with his bamboo wakizashi is one of the most harrowing scenes ever filmed. Motome is utterly humiliated, surrounded by the Ii clan retainers, with Onodaka Hikokuro, his assigned second preaching on how the sword is the soul of the samurai, the bamboo sword is what is appropriate for Motome, and so forth. While Motome painfully carries forth. Hikokuro refuses Motome's request to cut off his head and end the ritual's mockery, so Motome ends it himself, biting off his tongue.
Hanshiro has realized -- too late -- that he had never dared to even consider selling his own sword blades to help out the family. The scene when he is confronted with Motome's body and the truth of what has happened is truly gut-wrenching, as Hanshiro weeps and slams down his "useless tokens" that he had clung to. Hanshiro reveals his own secret he has used his "useless tokens" to avenge Motome's death. He has tracked down the three Ii retainers who were most responsible for Motome's death. The final duel between Hanshiro and Onodaka Hikokuro is absolutely stunning. Instead of taking the lives of these three, Hanshiro has taken their topknots. And while Kageyu has preached to Hanshiro about samurai honor, these three swordsmen have hidden themselves away, claiming sickness to cover up their own shame, while their topknots grow back.
Kageyu cannot deal with Hanshiro's revelations. He commands his men to slaughter Hanshiro. Hanshiro fights back gamely, taking four of the Ii clan retainers and wounding several more. In a symbolic scene, he tears down the ancestral armor of the Ii clan. Some Ii clansmen use their rifles against Hanshiro, but Hanshiro sticks his own sword into his belly, committing seppuku as he has pledged to do. In the end, Kageyu fashions a cover-up of the entire event; mysterious plagues have hit the Ii clan and a number of their retainers, including Onodaka, have died of "illness" rather than by the blade of an impoverished hungry ronin.
This film raises many issues. It is Kobayashi's impassioned protest against rigidly militaristic societies that uphold hypocritical codes of "bushido" while disdaining what that term really means. The film is also like a Greek tragedy, with a character (Tsugumo Hanshiro) possessing the tragic flaw of his own pride -- which in the end, he must pay for with his life. Which he does in a heroic way. This film doesn't just recount the oppression of poor people. It shows the strength that these poor people have, the choices that they make as individuals, refusing to just bow down and be mere victims of their society.
Motome had appeared a few months earlier, with a request, but had carried bamboo sword blades the clan members had been enraged. As an example to other scrounging ronin, particularly those without real blades, the clan decided to force Motome to commit seppuku with his own bamboo wakizashi.
Hanshiro tells his own life story. The film shows us some historical background. Thousands of ex-retainers had been thrown out of their positions, made into ronin, by the Shogunate's abolishing of clans. In the rigid class system (samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants), these displaced ex-retainers had no place at all, being forced into marginal subsistence. Most trades (because they required long periods of apprenticeship) were out for most ronin. Many ronin became outlaws or obtained bodyguard positions for gangsters. If law-abiding, they were able to teach in schools for commoner children. Or become piecework artisans; they could contract with wholesalers (who also lent money) to make fans, umbrellas, insect cages, ink brushes, and the like. Even as most ronin had to fend for themselves in this netherworld, they still were to carry the two swords of their original rank, and to uphold their obligations. Hanshiro and his daughter Miho make umbrellas and fans to sell to wholesalers for a pittance; Hanshiro is in debt to one of the wholesalers. Motome teaches commoner children and receives a minimal wage for his work.
Miho and Motome marry and have a son. All goes well until sickness strikes. Miho contracts consumption and the child contracts a fever. Neither Hanshiro nor Motome can afford a doctor. Motome attempts to get a laborer job (which pays more than teaching does) and runs straight into job discrimination: "no starving ronin need apply." Motome sells his sword blades at a pawnshop, obtaining bamboo blades to wear inside his sword fittings, not an uncommon practice; some ronin (and some low-ranked clan samurai) desperately needed money. And yet, the sword was considered to be "the soul of the bushi." A bushi who sold his blades had to appear to wear the badge of his rank. The bamboo blades were available, thus no one would know of the despicable act of having sold his "soul" for money.
But Motome has not received enough; he still cannot afford a doctor. So Motome decides on something more desperate: to appear at a clan gate, with his hidden bamboo blades, in order to request seppuku -- with the actual intention of receiving a handout to get a doctor for his wife and child. The Ii clan officials have decided differently. The scene where Motome must commit seppuku with his bamboo wakizashi is one of the most harrowing scenes ever filmed. Motome is utterly humiliated, surrounded by the Ii clan retainers, with Onodaka Hikokuro, his assigned second preaching on how the sword is the soul of the samurai, the bamboo sword is what is appropriate for Motome, and so forth. While Motome painfully carries forth. Hikokuro refuses Motome's request to cut off his head and end the ritual's mockery, so Motome ends it himself, biting off his tongue.
Hanshiro has realized -- too late -- that he had never dared to even consider selling his own sword blades to help out the family. The scene when he is confronted with Motome's body and the truth of what has happened is truly gut-wrenching, as Hanshiro weeps and slams down his "useless tokens" that he had clung to. Hanshiro reveals his own secret he has used his "useless tokens" to avenge Motome's death. He has tracked down the three Ii retainers who were most responsible for Motome's death. The final duel between Hanshiro and Onodaka Hikokuro is absolutely stunning. Instead of taking the lives of these three, Hanshiro has taken their topknots. And while Kageyu has preached to Hanshiro about samurai honor, these three swordsmen have hidden themselves away, claiming sickness to cover up their own shame, while their topknots grow back.
Kageyu cannot deal with Hanshiro's revelations. He commands his men to slaughter Hanshiro. Hanshiro fights back gamely, taking four of the Ii clan retainers and wounding several more. In a symbolic scene, he tears down the ancestral armor of the Ii clan. Some Ii clansmen use their rifles against Hanshiro, but Hanshiro sticks his own sword into his belly, committing seppuku as he has pledged to do. In the end, Kageyu fashions a cover-up of the entire event; mysterious plagues have hit the Ii clan and a number of their retainers, including Onodaka, have died of "illness" rather than by the blade of an impoverished hungry ronin.
This film raises many issues. It is Kobayashi's impassioned protest against rigidly militaristic societies that uphold hypocritical codes of "bushido" while disdaining what that term really means. The film is also like a Greek tragedy, with a character (Tsugumo Hanshiro) possessing the tragic flaw of his own pride -- which in the end, he must pay for with his life. Which he does in a heroic way. This film doesn't just recount the oppression of poor people. It shows the strength that these poor people have, the choices that they make as individuals, refusing to just bow down and be mere victims of their society.