MovieChat Forums > Seppuku (1964) Discussion > Why did Motome do it?

Why did Motome do it?

posted 17 years ago by joly24601
18 replies | jump to latest

Here's something I wonder about this film. Why did Motome go through with it and actually commit hara-kiri with his bamboo blade? If he really was "mad" with love and worry for his wife and son, I should think he'd try to get out of that situation. To my mind, dying fighting to the end like Tsugumo did is a much better death than dying by your own hand via a bamboo stick. But maybe that's just my Western thought.

Anyway, this whole movie is pretty much a criticism of the samurai code as a life of empty "facades" with no heart, but then Motome went along with it all! For that reason, I wasn't able to sympathize with him very well. Maybe he had a sort of unquestioning/trusting nature and it never entered his mind to fight back when his request for a few days' respite was refused. And I guess if he'd refused, we'd have no story. :P

For all that, this was a great film, a 10/10 imo.

[–] GMonhey 9 years ago

One poster mentioned hearing motomes story from other peoples point of view. We also see the counselor lie about what actually occurred at the end of movie. Could it be possible they lied about Motome, too?

Do I have to give it to you?

[–] remembervhs 9 years ago

Part of the brilliance of this movie is that we learn of Motome's fate before we learn about his motivation. So, while we certainly sympathize with him as he's forced to kill himself, we also judge him for attempting to extort money.

It's only later, when Hanshiro has recounted the whole story, that we understand what the movie is really trying to say and we feel a certain amount of guilt for judging Motome earlier in the film (or at least I did).

[–] Techto (1299) 4 years ago

> To my mind, dying fighting to the end like Tsugumo did is a much better death than dying by your own hand via a bamboo stick.

My impression was that Motome, though born into samurai caste, was raised more a scholar than a soldier. He was also: armed only with bamboo blades; an inexperienced swordsman; and heavily outnumbered. Finally, unlike his guardian/father-in-law, he was taken off guard by events and was unable to think through his options and plot a course of action..