Harakiri [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

This Japanese drama is set in the 17th century after the country centralized its political power. One effect of the death of feudalism was that the samurai warriors suddenly had no purpose. Many of the great fighters were suddenly reduced to wandering to estates and, in hopes of being giving jobs, piteously begging the owners to allow them to commit harikiri (the samurai suicide ritual) on their land. One such old fighter comes to an estate and is informed that a younger samurai came before him and was so poor that he had to use a bamboo sword to perform the ritual. This does not stop the elder fighter who requests that the three main swordsmen from the estate appear to participate. Unfortunately for the old soldier, no one comes on the appointed day and that is when the fighter reveals that he was the father-in-law of the recently deceased, disgraced samurai. To help avenge his dishonorable death, he dishonors the three fighters by cutting off their top knots. A big battle erupts and tragedy ensues, something that the estate's retainer, who orchestrated the whole fiasco, attempts to cover up. The film is also known as Seppuku.