Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
| Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Schrader |
| Produced by | Mataichiro Yamamoto Tom Luddy |
| Written by |
Leonard Schrader Paul Schrader Chieko Schrader |
| Starring |
Ken Ogata Masayuki Shionoya Junkichi Orimoto Kenji Sawada |
| Music by | Philip Glass |
| Cinematography | John Bailey |
| Edited by | Michael Chandler |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Japanese English |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $502,758 |
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a 1985 American film co-written and directed by Paul Schrader. The film is based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, interweaving episodes from his life with dramatizations of segments from his books The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. It was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
The film sets in on November 25 1970, the last day in Mishima's life. He is shown finishing a manuscript. Then, he puts on a uniform he designed for himself and meets with four of his most loyal followers from his private army.
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 keeps himself in perfect physical shape, owed to a narcissistic body cult). 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 state.
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 an elderly 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. Frame story, flashbacks and dramatizations are segmented into the four chapters of the film's title, named Beauty, Art, Action, and Harmony of Pen and Sword.
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