Hara-Kiri Review

Given his manic work rate, it’s too early to say if Takashi Miike’s new classical direction is reinvention or whim, but his personality seems to be fading with it. Case in point: this subdued remake of Kobayashi’s imposing classic, staged with such ritualistic awe it even concedes to a lookalike cast. The story still wields a fierce power — through a slow-drip of flashbacks, a destitute samurai reveals his cause for revenge on a corrupt, sadistic lord. While Kobayashi’s film trembled with anti-establishment fury, it’s less clear what Miike has to offer other than luxuriating in the tale’s more wretched elements. True, there’s a pulsing final showdown, but a mid-act of mercilessly laboured tragedy turns into an inert endurance. As for the tastefully muted 3D... well, the subtitles really punch.