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Bookmark this pageMishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1986)
Director: Paul Schrader
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A fantasist recreating himself in his own image to perfection; a narcissist building his puny body into a muscled samurai; an ultra-rightist patriot raising a private army to restore Japan to its former glory; an artist achieving his spiritual redemption through the ritual disembowelling of seppuku. Schrader may have finally achieved the violent transfiguration that he seeks along with his protagonists: the movie has all the ritual sharpness and beauty of that final sword. Moreover it has a unique structure. Three of Mishima's most autobiographical novels are dramatised on sets of incandescent colour; flashbacks to Mishima's early life are in serene b/w; and the whole is bracketed by a Costa-Gavras style re-creation of the last day of his life. Confusing as it sounds, Schrader's grip never falters. Finally Philip Glass's insistent score virtually transforms the whole thing into opera. There is nothing quite like it. CPea.Author: CPea
Cast & crew
Director: Paul Schrader
Producer: Mata Yamamoto, Tom Luddy
Cast: Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Junkichi Orimoto, Naoko Otani, Go Riju, Roy Scheider full cast
Duration: 120 mins
US Release: Dec 17 2008
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