I'd heard of "Madame Butterfly" years before seeing this picture, so I must admit ignorance of the original story behind a Japanese woman having relations with a man, having his baby, and then killing herself. Overall, the acting in this movie is really superb, as I would expect from a German silent film. True, there are no Japenese playing the Japaense parts, but the people who do play those parts do it very well, as do those playing the Caucasian parts. Lil Dagover, the main character in this movie, really has it rough. Her father gives her a teddy bear and, not too long after that, kills himself. It gets worse. An evil Buddhist priest, who helped bring about her father's execution, wants Lil to become a Buddhist priestess. Her father told the evil priest that her daughter should be able to make up her own mind in this. That certainly didn't help his cause. One day, she's in a holy garden, a place non-natives aren't allowed into. Olaf, a European Navy man, pays that no mind and hops the fence after spotting Lil. They hit it off fairly close to immediately. Olaf is told her can't have relations with her until her marries her first. He does, more interested in relations than anything else, and she has a child. Before she gives birth, Olaf leaves, but not before telling Lil he'll be back. Not exactly being a great guy, Olaf soon forgets all about her. Lil waits and waits and waits and no Olaf appears. A prince champions her cause in the meantime and wishes to marry her, but she won't do it. She's married to Olaf... One day Olaf, with wife in tow, re-appears. He doesn't show up at Lil's house, though. The evil Buddhist priest tries to take Lil's child away, but the prince saves the moment and Lil gets to keep her child, but she turns him down yet again because sh'es married to Olaf. Lil's lady in waiting gets Olaf's wife to appear, but Lil will not turn over her child. Olaf's wife then goes back and gets Olaf to finally come. Before he does, though, Lil figures he won't show back up and kills herself. Yes, it's a sad story, but well-acted all the way around. What prevented it from getting a higher rating from me is the fact it's a downer.
Review of Harakiri
