Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

Yukio Mishima (life story and his novel)
Chieko Schrader (Japanese script)

Release Date:

20 September 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

On November 25, 1970, Japan's greatest author Yukio Mishima commited an act that shocked the literary world...

Plot:

A fictionalized account in four segments of the life of Japan's celebrated twentieth-century author Yukio Mishima...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Author | Prison | Fight | Raid

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Ken Ogata	...	Yukio Mishima (segment "November 25, 1970")
Masayuki Shionoya	...	Morita (segment "November 25, 1970")
Hiroshi Mikami	...	Cadet #1 (segment "November 25, 1970")
Junya Fukuda	...	Cadet #2 (segment "November 25, 1970")
Shigeto Tachihara	...	Cadet #3 (segment "November 25, 1970")
Junkichi Orimoto	...	General Mashita (segment "November 25, 1970")
Naoko Otani	...	Mother (segment "Flashbacks")
Gô Rijû	...	Mishima, age 18-19 (segment "Flashbacks")
Masato Aizawa	...	Mishima - age 9-14 (segment "Flashbacks")
Yuki Nagahara	...	Mishima, age 5 (segment "Flashbacks")
Kyuzo Kobayashi	...	Literary Friend (segment "Flashbacks")
Yuki Kitazume	...	Dancing Friend (segment "Flashbacks")
Haruko Kato	...	Grandmother (segment "Flashbacks")
Yasosuke Bando	...	Mizoguchi (segment "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion")
Hisako Manda	...	Mariko (segment "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion")

Also Known As:

Mishima (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Mexico:B15 (2009) | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | UK:15 | Japan:(Banned) | Germany:16 | Canada:18A | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

American Zoetrope

Trivia:

Has never been officially released in Japan even to this day (2005) theatrically or on video because of the controversy over both Yukio Mishima's politics and the film itself. However, it has been shown on television (albiet with the gay bar scene removed) and the U.S. DVD can legally be imported there.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mishima didn't exaggerate his illness. He was declared unfit for military service because of an inexperienced Army physician's misdiagnosis.

Quotes:

Isao: By turning one's life into a line of poetry written in a splash of blood.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sweets to the Sweet: The Candyman Mythos (2004) (V)

Stunning

"Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" is one of those films which is extremely hard to write about simply because it hit me on such an emotional level and stunned me with its artistry to the point where writing a review or comment on the film seems trivial and useless. Hence, this will be rambling and poorly-written, but I'll give it a shot anyway.

The easiest thing to talk about when discussing "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" is the technical elements of the film. The narrative is superb and fairly original with a fine script by Chieko, Leonard, and Paul Schrader and Schrader's decisions as director are pretty much faultless. Every stylistic turn the film took, every sequence which took a risk, and pretty much the whole time the camera was in motion I was utterly enthralled and fascinated with how well the film works as a film. Paul Schrader may not be as great a storyteller as some of the great directors are but in "Mishima" he proves that he is more than capable of being a wonderful storyteller if necessary. The film moves at an extraordinarily fast pace and one barely notices the passing of the two hours.

I have to say, despite being a literature buff to an extent, I have never read anything by Mishima. I knew one or two things about Mishima, including the big ending to his story (which I won't reveal, to keep this spoiler-free) prior to seeing the film, but not much else. Perhaps this is why I felt, contrary to some others, that the film got progressively stronger and ended with a breathtakingly brilliant final act. I also found it completely refreshing how this biopic took no position on Mishima or the final act of his life- it is simply a portrait of a man, not a comment on his life.

The Phillip Glass score is utterly brilliant. There is very little of this film that doesn't prominently feature it, which can come off as the result of a lack of confidence from the director, but in this case it is used superbly well in the film. The score is original, vibrant, interesting, and memorable- much like the film itself.

"Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" is a film that is certainly ripe for interpretation and analysis. I am not going to attempt to provide either of those, mostly because I'm not really in a position to, and also because I found this a profoundly emotional experience, a film of such artistry that it is a film that everyone should experience without preconceived notions of quality or content and one that everyone should attempt their own analysis of. It's that special. It's that good.

10/10