I read about this movie when I was a kid. Never thought that much about it since I would probably never see it. Recently rented it off Netflix and WOW! Nakagawa's message comes through loud and clear across 46 years and the even wider cultural gap between US and Japan. Unusual stylization (truly hope to see this on a theater screen someday) is incredibly effective as a purely aesthetic experience (meaning you could turn off the subtitles and still be enthralled by the visuals and the music) AND as an elegy for the Japanese traditions of beauty and honor. You can read the various summaries in other posts. Suffice it to say this movie qualifies as a masterpiece if you don't go into it with "horror movie" expectations. See it!