The film opens in 17th Century Japan, while seeking a noble end, poverty-stricken Samurai Hanshiro requests to commit ritual suicide at the House of Li. With it being a common practice of the time for some Samurai to use such empty requests as a means of eliciting money or finding work with clans, the Li chief official Kageyu attempts to put him off by telling him of the horrible end that met the last Ronin to have done so, a young man called Motome.
Hanshiro is shocked by the horrifying details of Motome's fate, but remains true to his decision to die with honor. Hanshiro is not bluffing, yet his true motives are also not to slit open his own stomach. Hanshiro has an example of his own to set, and through a story of his own, he unspools a plot of vengeance that the on looking Samurai will see play out right before their eyes.
DIRECTED BY: TAKASHI MIIKE
STARRING: Ebizo Ichikawa, Eita, Koji Yakusho, Hikari Matsushima
2011- JAPANESE with ENGLISH SUBTITLES - COLOR - 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN - 126 MINUTES
