“DEATH AS ART”

By Raymond Benson

Note: I reviewed the Criterion Collection’s 2008 DVD release of this film here at Cinema Retro. The product has now been upgraded to Blu-ray by the company. Much of the following is excerpted and/or revised from the original review, while also addressing the new Blu-ray.

Paul Schrader has always opined that Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters is his best film as a director, and I must agree. Originally released in 1985 (and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas), the film is a fascinating bio-pic about controversial Japanese author/actor Yukio Mishima. Schrader, a successful screenwriter who has also had an interesting hit-and-miss career as a director, co-wrote the film with his brother Leonard and filmed it in Japan with a Japanese cast and crew. Ironically, the film was banned in Japan upon its release due to the controversial nature of Mishima’s infamously public display of seppuku (suicide) in 1970.

But despite Mishima’s questionable act, there is no doubt that he was a formidable novelist, poet, and artist—certainly one of his country’s greatest. Schrader’s film attempts to visualize Mishima’s life and work, as well as make sense of his final days in three different stylistic approaches that are beautiful to behold and brilliant in conception.

The “present” (that is, 1970) is in color, filmed realistically, almost documentary-like, as we follow Mishima (expertly played by Ken Ogata) and his cadets travel to and subsequently take control of a Japanese military base in Tokyo so that he can deliver his public manifesto and commit seppuku. The past—the events of Mishima’s childhood and rise to fame—is in black and white, almost as if we are watching film noir. The motion picture also presents dramatizations of scenes from some of the author’s novels. These are presented in a highly stylized theatricality, in color, with stage sets and “actors.” The narrative ingeniously jumps between these three arcs, revealing the psyche of a complicated, but brilliant, artist. Why would he kill himself as an artistic statement? Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters attempts to explain this enigma.

Philip Glass provides one of his most admirable motion picture scores to date, John Bailey’s cinematography is exquisitely gorgeous, and Eiko Ishioka’s production designs are perfectly suited to Schrader’s sensibilities. Whether or not you know anything about Yukio Mishima, you will find the picture to be an extraordinary cinematic experience.

The Criterion Collection has done another outstanding job of producing a new, restored 4K digital transfer of the director’s cut, which was supervised and approved by Schrader and Bailey. There are optional English and Japanese voiceover narrations (by Roy Scheider and Ken Ogata, respectively—the U.S. theatrical release only had the Scheider narration). Personally, I agree with Schrader’s view that the English-language narration by Scheider is preferable; otherwise there are too many subtitles on the screen when simultaneously translating the narration as well as the Japanese speakers. (There is an additional “early” Scheider narration that I’m not sure adds much to the viewing experience.) The film comes with an audio commentary by Schrader and producer Alan Poul, recorded in 2006.

The supplements are ported over from the original DVD release. This wealth of material includes the excellent 1985 BBC documentary The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima. There are vintage video interviews with Mishima himself; more recent segments with Mishima’s biographers and translators, Philip Glass, John Bailey, and other members of the film crew; and the trailer. The booklet features an essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka’s sets.

Mishima—A Life in Four Chapters is a beautiful, emotionally-powerful film that is an immersive, visual and aural treat. Highly recommended.

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