Mishima A Life In Four Chapters [1985]

EMM# : 16626
Added: 2018-06-21

Mishima A Life In Four Chapters (1985)
On November 25, 1970, Japan's greatest author Yukio Mishima commited an act that shocked the literary world...

Rating: 7.9

Movie Details:

Genre: Biography (Drama)

Length: 2 h 1 min - 121 min

Video: 1920x1024 (23.976 Fps - 2 150 Kbps)

Studio: Zoetrope Studios| Filmlink International| Lucasfil...(cut)

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Plot
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A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese author Yukio Mishima. Three of the segments parallel events in Mishima's life with his novels (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses), while the fourth depicts the actual events of the 25th Nov. 1970, "The Last Day".
Written by
Nick Lopez
Plot Synopsis:
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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.
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There are two versions of the film, one with English narration by Roy Scheider, the other with Japanese narration by Ken Ogata. The Ogata version also has scenes added by director Paul Schrader that were cut out from the original 1985 release. These scenes were added by Schrader to the Criterion DVD release: "We did quite a bit of work on it - [cinematographer] John Bailey and I worked a week redoing the D.I. [Digital Intermediate] and balancing the color. We did great work to the soundtrack. We added a short little scene that I had cut out featuring Chishû Ryû, the Ozu [Yasujirô Ozu] actor, that I always regretted cutting out - we found the original negative and I put that back in. I did some sky replacement at the end of [the segment] "Runaway Horses" because I wasn't really happy with the shots at the end. We were able to go back and replace the natural sky with an artificial sky. Then we went back to the original digital on Philip Glass' soundtrack and so the sound is much better on the Criterion version. We also put Ken Ogata's narration in, so now it finally has Japanese narration."
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Yukio Mishima's family originally cooperated with the making of this film but when their request that the gay bar scene be removed was denied, they withdrew their help.
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The film uses different color palettes to differentiate between the chapters of the film: the (1970) contemporary scenes are shot in subdued coloursthe flashbacks are in black-and-whitethe "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" chapter is in tones of gold and greenthe "Kyoko's House" chapter is in tones of pink and greyand the "Runaway Horses" chapter is in tones of orange and black.
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Paul Schrader considers this film the best he has ever directed.
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The soundtrack varies with the differing chapters of Mishima's life. the (1970) contemporary scenes has strings and percussionthe flashbacks are only stringsand the stylized scenes from his novels have a full orchestra.
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Director Paul Schrader claims that a substantial amount of the financing came from Japan, but the Toho studio and their partners have persistently denied this: "We had a Japanese producer who was able to raise half of the budget through his own money and from Fuji Television and Toho-Towa. Then, of course, the Japanese financiers tried to pull out at the last minute because of pressure from the widow. There was another drama involving that and the end result was that they gave us the money but claimed that they didn't. To this day, they claim that they did not finance the film."
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Writer Yukio Mishima's actual words are used as narration, read in Japanese by Ken Ogata in the restored version, and in English by Roy Scheider in the original theatrical release.
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The painting in the art book is one of six pictures of St. Sebastian by Guido Reni. This particular one was painted circa 1615 and is the Capitoline Museum in Rome.
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The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.
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Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
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While the film is mainly a biography of Yukio Mishima (based on his autobiography "Confessions of a Mask"), it incorporates elements from his novels: The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion (1956): a aspirant sets fire to a Buddhist temple because he feels inferior at the sight of its beautyKyoko's House (1959): a young man enters into a sadomasochistic relationship with an elder womanRunaway Horses (1969): a group of young fanatic nationalists fails to overthrow the government.
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The unusual visual distortion as Mishima commits Seppuku was accomplished by simultaneously pulling the camera backwards and zooming the camera lens forward.
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In the road scene, when Mishima and his crew are going to the Ministery of Defence, many models of cars can be seen which existed when the movie was filmed, but did not exist in the year the events happened (1970).
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Shadow of camera and operator on the ground, to the bottom left of frame, as the garrison assembles for Mishima to deliver his address.
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General Mashita wiped the sword with tissue paper, not cloth.
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Mishima didn't exaggerate his illness. He was declared unfit for military service because of an inexperienced Army physician's misdiagnosis.
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The word "country" written in Japanese kanji on the hachimaki is the simplified character. On the actual hachimakis, the kanji for "country" was the long traditional form.
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It was Morita, not Mishima, who locked the doors. When he saw that some doors couldn't be locked, Mishima ordered them barricaded.
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There were two cadets outside the building, not just Morita.
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The globe's stand was not knocked during the scuffle.
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Chiba Koga did not try to strangle Mashita with the polishing cloth. He had given the polishing cloth to Mishima to wipe the sword and used his hands to throttle the General from behind.
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Argentina: Mishima
Bulgaria (Bulgarian title): ÐÅ“Ð¸ÑË†Ð¸Ð¼Ð°
Brazil: Mishima: Uma Vida em Quatro Tempos
Chile: Mishima
Denmark: Mishima
Spain: Mishima
Spain (reissue title): Mishima, una vida en cuatro capítulos
Finland: Mishima - elämän neljä lukua
France: Mishima - une vie en quatre chapitres
Greece: Mishima
Hungary: Mishima
Italy: Mishima: Una vita in quattro capitoli
Mexico: Mishima: Una vida en cuatro capítulos
Poland: Mishima
Portugal: Mishima
Sweden: Mishima - ett liv i fyra kapitel
Soviet Union (Russian title): ÐÅ“Ð¸ÑÂÐ¸Ð¼Ð°: Ðâ€“Ð¸Ð·Ð½ÑÅ’ Ð² Ñâ€¡ÐµÑâ€šÑâ€¹Ñâ‚¬Ñâ€˜Ñâ€¦ Ð³Ð»Ð°Ð²Ð°Ñâ€¦
USA (short title): Mishima
West Germany: Mishima - Ein Leben in vier Kapiteln