Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | |
---|---|
Directed by | Paul Schrader |
Screenplay by | Leonard Schrader Paul Schrader Chieko Schrader |
Story by | Paul Schrader Jun Shiragi |
Produced by | Mataichirô Yamamoto Tom Luddy |
Starring | Ken Ogata Kenji Sawada Toshiyuki Nagashima Yasosuke Bando |
Cinematography | John Bailey |
Edited by | Michael Chandler Tomoyo Oshima [1] [2] [3] |
Music by | Philip Glass |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
Countries | United States Japan |
Languages | English Japanese |
Budget | $5 million |
Box office | $502,758 [4] |
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a 1985 biographical drama film based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader from a screenplay by his brother Leonard and Leonard's wife Chieko Schrader from a story by Paul Schrader and Jun Shiragi. The film interweaves episodes from Mishima's (Ken Ogata) life with dramatizations of segments from his books The Temple of the Golden Pavilion , Kyoko's House , and Runaway Horses . Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas were executive producers of the film, which has a musical score composed by Philip Glass [5] and production design by Eiko Ishioka. [6]
The film begins on November 25, 1970, the last day in Mishima's life. He is shown finishing a manuscript, then puts on a uniform he designed for himself and meets with four of his most loyal followers from his private army, the Tatenokai.
In flashbacks highlighting episodes from his past life, the viewer sees Mishima's progression from a sickly young boy to one of Japan's most acclaimed writers of the post-war era (who in adulthood trains himself into the acme of muscular discipline, owing to a morbid and militaristic obsession with masculinity and physical culture). His loathing for the materialism of modern Japan has him turn towards an extremist traditionalism. He sets up his own private army and proclaims the reinstating of the emperor as head of government.
The biographical sections are interwoven with short dramatizations of three of Mishima's novels: In The Temple of the Golden Pavilion , a stuttering aspirant sets fire to the famous Zen Buddhist temple because he feels inferior at the sight of its beauty. Kyoko's House depicts the sadomasochistic (and ultimately fatal) relationship between a middle-aged woman and her young lover, who is in her financial debt. In Runaway Horses , a group of young fanatic nationalists fails to overthrow the government, with its leader subsequently committing suicide. Dramatizations, frame story, and flashbacks are segmented into the four chapters of the film's title, named Beauty, Art, Action, and Harmony of Pen and Sword.
The film culminates in Mishima and his followers taking hostage a General of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. He addresses the garrison's soldiers, asking them to join him in his struggle to reinstate the Emperor as the nation's sovereign. His speech is largely ignored and ridiculed. Mishima then returns to the General's office and commits seppuku.
|
|
|
|
|
Mishima dramatizes three of the writer's novels and also uses segments from his autobiographical novel Confessions of a Mask . At least two scenes, one showing the young Mishima being aroused by a painting of the Christian martyr Sebastian, and another where a young Mishima purposefully exaggerates his illness at a military draft health checkup, appear in this book.
The use of one further Mishima novel, Forbidden Colors , which describes the marriage of a homosexual man to a woman, was denied by Mishima's widow. [7] As Schrader wanted to visualize a book illustrating Mishima's narcissism and sexual ambiguity, he chose the novel Kyoko's House (which he had translated for him exclusively) instead. Kyoko's House contains four equally ranking storylines, featuring four protagonists, but Schrader picked out only the one which he considered relevant. [8]
Mishima used various colour palettes to differentiate between frame story, flashbacks and scenes from Mishima's novels: the scenes set in 1970 were shot in naturalistic colours, the flashbacks in black-and-white, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion-episode is dominated by golden and green, Kyoko's House by pink and grey, and Runaway Horses by orange and black. [9]
Pre-production began in February 1984. Cinematographer John Bailey instructed the Japanese crew to set up a screening of Hideo Gosha's film Goyokin , which was screened as an important reference for the "look" of the film. [10]
Roy Scheider was the narrator in the original movie version and on the early VHS release. On the 2001 DVD release, Scheider's voice-over was substituted with narration by an uncredited actor. The 2008 DVD re-release contains both Scheider's and the alternate narration (plus Ken Ogata's for the Japanese version). In a commentary on Amazon.com, Schrader explained this was a manufacturing error in 2001 and that the voice belonged to the photographer Paul Jasmin. [11]
The film closes with Mishima's suicide (which actually took longer than the seppuku ritual dictates). His confidant Morita, unable to behead Mishima, also failed in killing himself according to the ritual. A third group member beheaded both, then the conspirators surrendered without resistance. [12] Roger Ebert approved of Schrader's decision not to show the suicide in bloody detail, which he thought would have destroyed the film's mood. [13]
The film was withdrawn from the Tokyo International Film Festival and never officially released in Japan, mostly due to a boycott exercised by Mishima's widow and threats by far right wing groups opposed to Mishima's portrayal as a homosexual. [9] The title role was originally intended for Ken Takakura, who indeed proposed this to Paul Schrader, but had to withdraw due to pressure from the same groups. [9] In an interview with Kevin Jackson published in 1992, Schrader commented on the fact that his film has still not been shown in Japan: "[Mishima] is too much of a scandal. ... When Mishima died people said, 'Give us fifteen years and we'll tell you what we think about him,' but it's been more than fifteen years now and they still don't know what to say. Mishima has become a non-subject." [8]
Schrader considers Mishima the best film he has directed. "It's the one I'd stand by – as a screenwriter it's Taxi Driver , but as a director it's Mishima." [8]
The musical score for Mishima was composed by Philip Glass, with parts performed by the Kronos Quartet. A soundtrack album was released on vinyl record and Audio CD in 1985 by Nonesuch Records.
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Mishima has a 79% approval rating and an average rating of 7.5/10 based on 71 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "If Paul Schrader’s Yukio Mishima biopic omits too much to fully depict the author’s life, its passion shines through in its avant-garde structure, Eiko Ishioka’s production design, and Philip Glass’ thunderous score." [14] In his 2013 movie guide, Leonard Maltin called the film an "ambitious, highly stylized drama", later adding that it is "long, difficult, not always successful, but fascinating." [15] In 2007, Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list, calling the film "a triumph of concise writing and construction. The unconventional structure of the film ... unfolds with perfect clarity, the logic revealing itself." [16]
Chris Peachment of Time Out Film Guide said, "Schrader may have finally achieved the violent transfiguration that he seeks along with his protagonists; the film has all the ritual sharpness and beauty of that final sword. ... There is nothing quite like it." [17]
The film premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 1985, where it won the award for Best Artistic Contribution. [18]
Mishima has been released three times on DVD in the US, two of which by The Criterion Collection who also produced its Blu-ray release.
A French DVD was released by Wild Side Video in 2010 titled Mishima – une vie en quatre chapitres in Japanese, English and French language with French subtitles.
A Spanish Blu-ray Disc was released in 2010 titled Mishima – Una Vida en Cuatro Capítulos. It features Schrader's narration with optional Spanish and Catalan, but no English, subtitles.
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical drama film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Roy Scheider. The screenplay, by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse, is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as a dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Fosse's manic effort to edit his film Lenny while simultaneously staging the 1975 Broadway musical Chicago. It borrows its title from the Kander and Ebb tune "All That Jazz" in that production.
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor and amateur boxer. Described by AllMovie as "one of the most unique and distinguished of all Hollywood actors", he gained fame for his leading and supporting roles in celebrated films from the 1970s through to the early to mid-1980s. He was nominated for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award.
Red Beard is a 1965 Japanese jidaigeki film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, in his last collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune. Based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1959 short story collection, Akahige Shinryōtan, the film takes place in Koishikawa, a district of Edo, towards the end of the Tokugawa period, and is about the relationship between a town doctor and his new trainee. Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Humiliated and Insulted provided the source for a subplot about a young girl, Otoyo, who is rescued from a brothel.
Akinobu Ogata, better known by his stage name Ken Ogata, was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 50 movies and 25 television series. For his merits and contribution to arts in 2000 received Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon.
Mishima may refer to:
Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became widely known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader is more prolific as a director: his 22 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis.
Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 kaiju film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, or "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film Godzilla. The film was a Japanese-American co-production, with the original footage produced by Toho Co., Ltd., and the new footage produced by Jewell Enterprises. The film stars Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kōchi, Akira Takarada, and Akihiko Hirata, with Haruo Nakajima and Katsumi Tezuka as Godzilla. In the film, an American reporter covers a giant reptilian monster's attack on Japan.
The Yakuza is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader.
Kenji Sawada is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist and actor, best known for being the vocalist for the Japanese rock band The Tigers. Nicknamed "Julie" because of his self-professed adoration of Julie Andrews, he was born in Tsunoi, Iwami, Tottori Prefecture, Japan, and raised in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto at age 3.
Pickpocket is a 1959 French film written and directed by Robert Bresson. It stars Martin LaSalle, who was a nonprofessional actor at the time, in the title role, and features Marika Green, Pierre Leymarie, and Jean Pélégri in supporting roles. The film is generally considered to be one of Bresson's greatest films.
Kyōko no Ie (鏡子の家) is a 1959 novel by the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.
Häxan is a 1922 silent horror essay film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen. Consisting partly of documentary-style storytelling as well as dramatized narrative sequences, the film purports to chart the historical roots and superstitions surrounding witchcraft, beginning in the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Based partly on Christensen's own study of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th-century German guide for inquisitors, Häxan proposes that such witch-hunts may have stemmed from misunderstandings of mental or neurological disorders, triggering mass hysteria.
Eiko Ishioka was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media.
Leonard Schrader was an American screenwriter and director, most notable for his ability to write Japanese-language films and for his many collaborations with his brother, Paul Schrader. He earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay he wrote for the film Kiss of the Spider Woman.
The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 epic religious drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader with uncredited rewrites from Scorsese and Jay Cocks, it is an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial 1955 novel of the same name. The film, starring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Andre Gregory, Harry Dean Stanton and David Bowie, was shot entirely in Morocco.
John Ira BaileyASC was an American cinematographer and film director known for his collaborations with directors Paul Schrader, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Apted, and Ken Kwapis. In August 2017, Bailey was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He was succeeded by casting director David Rubin in August 2019.
The Only Son is a 1936 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Chōko Iida and Shin'ichi Himori. The film was Ozu's first sound film feature.
Pale Flower is a 1964 Japanese film noir directed by Masahiro Shinoda. The film is about Muraki a Yakuza hitman just released from prison. At an illegal gambling parlor, he finds himself drawn to a mysterious young woman named Saeko. Though Saeko loses large sums of money, she asks Muraki to find games with larger and larger stakes. The two become involved in an intense mutually destructive relationship. Film critic Roger Ebert gave Pale Flower four stars and placed it on his list of Great Movies.
Reisen Ri, also credited as Reisen Lee, was a Japanese stage and film actress of Korean descent.