Takashi Miike Working On A 3D Remake Of Harakiri

While I may not be a fan of 3D, not in the slightest actually, sometimes there is a project that just sounds too good to be true.

And this may be that time.

According to Variety, Takashi Miike, best known for films like Audition and Ichi The Killer, is plotting his first foray into 3D, and it sounds like an absolute winner. The outlet is reporting that Miike is set to make a 3D feature film based on the legendary 1962 Masaki Kobayashi period film, Harakiri.

The original film followed Hanshiro Tsugumo, played by the always amazing Tatsuya Nakadai, a samurai looking to enact revenge after his son-in-law is forced to commit suicide with his sword.

Miike’s new film is set to shoot in October with a release set for next year, and personally, this is more than amazing news. I adore Miike as a filmmaker (I still to this day say that Audition is one of the best modern horror films ever made), and the idea of seeing his take on this truly amazing film (side note: it’s one of the best Criterion covers in my opinion), is just too good to be true. The original is a great film, an absolute masterpiece of the genre, and could not be a better fit for Miike.

What do you think?

Source: Variety

Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself’”but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Exclusive video introduction by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie
Rare excerpt of a Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, moderated by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda (Double Suicide)
New video interviews with star Tatsuya Nakadai and screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto
Poster gallery
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A 32-page booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Joan Mellen and a reprint of her 1972 interview with Kobayashi

2 comments

nobordersfilm says:

September 19, 2010 at 4:17 pm

It would be a much better match for Takeshi Kitano or Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I appreciate Miike’s style and films, but don’t have a lot of confidence for him to handle the subtleties of the original. And 3D would add nothing but exploitation to the viewing experience.
Stephen Chow says:

September 19, 2010 at 6:49 pm

i disagree with the first commenter. Takeshi kitano or kurosawa will try to stay too close to the original. a lot of people disagree, but when i see a remake, i want to see a new interpretation of the material. NO DIRECTOR, and i absolutely mean NO DIRECTOR, can do this better than Miike. He is the epitome of not taking sequels/remake lightly. He’s going to turn this film upside down, and it’s going to be great. Harakiri is absolutely one of my favorite samurai films ever, and I think Miike will rock the boat with this upcoming 3D remake.