The Broken Commandment (破戒)

"This is a story of the past. The past holds many points on which subsequent ages should reflect,

"and as someone once said, this is because events of the past are assured to be true." - Preface to Hakai

Hakai

Screenplay by Natto Wada Based on the novel by Toson Shimazaki

Starring:

Raizo Ichikawa Hiroyuki Nagato Eiji Funakoshi Shiho Fujimura Rentaro Mikuni

Kanjiro Nakamura Kyoko Kishida Seiji Miyaguchi Yoshi Kato Haruko Sugimura

Directed by Kon Ichikawa

Hey, come here.

I have salt. You can have as much as you want.

Come here.

It's nothing for you to worry about.

People have long since stopped visiting this place.

It's probably just someone on his way to Kazawa hot springs.

He's my older brother.

I'm quite sure it's him.

We'll bury him on the mountain at first light.

We have a custom of not keeping a grave at the temple.

I am in great debt to you.

I found Mr. Segawa's body around three days after he died.

That's what the constable said after we called him up the mountain to investigate.

We all live in huts in mountain valleys far from each other.

Sometimes we don't see one another for days at a time.

I knew that Mr. Segawa had a mean-tempered ox.

But he was an experienced farmer.

Nobody could've seen this coming.

Excuse me.

I just wanted to stop by for a moment.

I believe that a cattle breeder named Segawa lives in this area.

Ushimatsu, what are you doing here?

I'd like to ask you the same question, Uncle.

That's my father's home, isn't it?

Something happened, didn't it?

I beg you, please leave this mountain immediately!

Is my father ill? Is he injured?

Ushimatsu, he's dead.

He was gored by a bull. It happened maybe three days ago.

Dead?

Last winter, I had appendicitis. I thought I was a goner.

He came down the mountain in the middle of the night to look after me.

That was the last time I saw him.

I knew it...

- I knew he was dead. - How?

I only told you just now.

Did someone else tell you?

My father.

Three days ago,

just at the time that it was my turn as night watch at the school,

I went out to walk the school grounds after nightfall...

Ushimatsu!

Ushimatsu!

I realized immediately that something had happened to him.

If only I hadn't hesitated in coming here.

I had no trouble whatsoever finding this place...

a place that he forbade me from even coming near to.

I'm sure that it was my father's voice calling me that night.

I'm sure the voice you heard was my brother's.

I have no doubt.

I'm not just telling you this out of pity...

But he wasn't calling you to come here.

He was saying, "Ushimastsu, don't forget!," "Ushimatsu, hide the secret!"

Right until his final breaths.

He refused to see me for 10 years,

and I couldn't see him when he died, either.

Such is the lot of the burakumin.

- Why was I born a burakumin? - Stop that talk!

When you finished elementary school,

your father was determined you continue on to secondary school.

He knew that he would never be able to see you again.

My brother, you, and my wife and I...

lived in this burakumin village in Komoro for many years,

before we moved to the outskirts of Nezu Village to conceal our past.

Your father was the elder of the burakumin village,

so he knew that secrecy was out of the question.

He left you to live with me and my wife, and lived on this ranch.

He wasn't able to work in society like a regular person.

Preventing you from suffering the same fate...

was the only reason that he lived like a hermit.

If you thoughtlessly reveal your identity as a burakumin,

your father's entire life's work will have been for nothing.

Father, I swear that I will never break your commandment to hide my identity.

No matter the circumstances, no matter who I meet,

I will never reveal this secret.

That's enough. Now you must leave this place.

If you go along the ridgeline, you'll hit the road to Komoro.

You won't get there before daybreak. Catch the train in Komoro.

Uncle, please let me see my father, just for a moment.

You're protecting the same secret as me.

The burakumin code dictates that you don't expose another member who is living outside their community.

The burakumin abide by the code...

but they're people too. You can't always trust them.

Your father understood that.

Please. Just for a moment, and then I'll be on my way.

It's only candlelight. You might not even recognize him.

Make sure nobody sees your face.

A friend of the family has come.

- He wants to briefly pay his respects. - That's fine.

Let him in.

The owner of the bull is taking it to market tomorrow.

He said he would use the money he got from the meat to pay the funeral costs.

That's very kind.

He should have just left the bull alone when it got lost.

Instead, for some reason he felt he had to go looking for it.

Someone saw him looking for the bull, waist deep in waterweeds.

I think I heard him walking up and down the mountains calling for the bull.

It made me flinch...

Maybe he wanted to die.

I don't think that Mr. Segawa absolutely wanted to die,

but it seemed as if he was shouting to the heavens.

Screaming from the bottom of his soul!

It was the sadness, the feeling of our burakumin village...

The agony of a man who could not die without regret!

Blackie!

- 52kg, 300. - 52kg, 500. - 44kg.

- He's unclean! - Go away!

Oh, God! He's unclean!

It serves him right! He's unclean!

Purify this place with salt!

Oh, you're back.

I was passing by, and the landlord said you had returned.

Thanks for taking care of things while I was away.

I'm sure it was an imposition to handle both my class and yours.

Forget about it. I assume you're back so soon because your uncle recovered?

However, since he must've been gravely ill, I would've stayed on a bit, just to make sure.

Ma'am, did I hear there was some kind of disturbance?

Yes, it was a real nuisance...

I assume that you heard about it, Mr. Segawa.

That wealthy man that came here from Shimotakai for medical treatment...

Well, it turned out he was of the burakumin caste.

He was removed from the hospital and returned here.

Of course, we asked him to leave at once.

People seem to think we knew, but that we let him stay anyway...

because he was a big tipper. What a nuisance!

I assure you that we had no idea.

We would take no money from the likes of him.

That's unfortunate.

Please enjoy your meal.

He was kicked out of the hospital and then the inn.

Then he had his back smeared with salt.

Why couldn't he have kept it a secret?!

Even if he'd tried, it would be exposed and the same thing would've happened.

Aren't burakumin human?

I don't see any difference between them and regular people.

If you do, let me know, Mr. Tsuchiya.

The designation of the burakumin class was something that suited the policymakers.

Their descendants were confined to live...

in a specific region and have a lower standard of living than others.

This is a new age!

We are fighting in a war, as children of the emperor!

I've been meaning to tell you, but you should probably stop...

reading books by Rentaro Inoko.

Rentaro Inoko?

Yes. You sound like you're reciting one of his diatribes.

You're mistaken.

The reason Rentaro Inoko risked his life for the burakumin liberation movement...

was that he himself was a burakumin.

You're a normal person. You don't have to regurgitate his rhetoric.

Reading is important, but you must maintain a proper perspective.

If it's all right, there's someone I'd like to introduce to you.

- Who? - Rentaro Inoko, of course.

I believe you'll dislike him.

Such public figures seem appealing from a distance, but once you get to know them,

you'll find that their distinction from others often masks numerous personal flaws.

You've got gall, saying that about a man you've never met. He's a fine man.

Have you met him?

Well... of course not.

I think he has lung disease.

If you have death breathing down your neck, I imagine it could inspire you to write great works.

But I guarantee you, no man from a burakumin village could ever produce great ideas.

Stop, already.

It breaks my heart to hear you of all people say such things.

You must be exhausted from your trip.

It's made you emotional.

Chasing a burakumin out of town is normal.

Rest up, you'll feel better.

I'll see you tomorrow at school.

Look! It's human blood!

It's Japanese blood!

It's not different from anyone else's.

We have the same four limbs. The same anatomy, the same blood.

Why are we discriminated against?

Why must it be a secret?

Father, tell me! Help me!

Even his grave is hidden...

He just slipped away, like a stray cat.

Mr. Segawa, glad I ran into you.

There's something I want to ask you.

I imagine you heard that I resigned my position.

Yes, the headmaster mentioned it.

The headmaster is a master of cunning! The truth is, I was forced to resign.

He didn't like me taking sick leave from work.

If I resigned due to health considerations,

neither of us would lose face. Fired in perfect health.

Newly published, "Record of Repentance" by Rentaro Inoko

I worked there nearly 10 years.

My salary was a pittance.

Six months more and I would have gotten a pension.

Mr. Segawa, can't you get them to keep me on for six more months?

I'll see what I can do, but the headmaster is a stickler for rules...

Thank you. I mean it, thank you.