| Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Schrader |
| Written by | Chieko Schrader Paul Schrader Leonard 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 dates |
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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 1985biographicaldrama film directed byPaul Schrader from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brotherLeonard and Leonard's wife Chieko Schrader. The film is based on the life and work of Japanese writerYukio Mishima (portrayed byKen Ogata), interweaving episodes from his life with dramatizations of segments from his booksThe Temple of the Golden Pavilion,Kyoko's House, andRunaway Horses.Francis Ford Coppola andGeorge Lucas were executive producers of the film, which has a musical score composed byPhilip Glass[5] and production design byEiko Ishioka.[6]
The film's production met with controversy due to Mishima's status as an icon among Japaneseultranationalists, and the film's frank portrayal of hishomosexuality.[7][8] A planned premiere at the 1985Tokyo International Film Festival was cancelled due to bomb threats, and the film was not officially screened in the country until 2025.[9]
Mishima premiered at the1985 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Artistic Contribution Award and was nominated forPalme d'Or.[10]
The film begins on November 25, 1970, the last day of Mishima's life. He finishes a manuscript and then puts on a uniform he designed for himself and meets with four of his most loyal followers from his private army, theTatenokai.
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. In adulthood, Mishima trains himself into the acme of muscular discipline, owing to a morbid and militaristic obsession with masculinity andphysical culture. His loathing for the materialism of modern Japan has him turn towards an extremist traditionalism. He establishes the Tatenokai and advocates for reinstating theemperor as head of government.
The biographical sections are interwoven with short dramatizations of three of Mishima's novels: InThe Temple of the Golden Pavilion, a stuttering aspirant sets fire to the famousZen Buddhist temple because he feels inferior at the sight of its beauty.Kyoko's House depicts the ultimately fatalsadomasochistic relationship between a middle-aged woman and her young lover, who is in her financial debt. InRunaway Horses, a group of young fanatic nationalists plots to overthrow the government andzaibatsu, with its leader subsequently committing suicide. Dramatizations, frame story, and flashbacks are segmented into the four chapters of the film's title, namedBeauty,Art,Action, andHarmony of Pen and Sword.
The film culminates in Mishima and his followers taking hostage a General of theJapan 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 commitsseppuku.
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Pre-production began in February 1984. Cinematographer John Bailey instructed the Japanese crew to set up a screening ofHideo Gosha's filmGoyokin as an important reference for the "look" of the film.[11]
The title role was originally intended forKen Takakura, who indeed proposed this to Paul Schrader, but had to withdraw due to pressure from ultranationalist groups.[8]Ryuichi Sakamoto was also considered for the part, but declined.[12] Schrader eventually cast Ken Ogata, who he felt didn't physically resemble Mishima, but could provoke sympathy for the character.[7]
Roy Scheider was the narrator in the original movie version and on the earlyVHS 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 onAmazon.com, Schrader explained this was a manufacturing error in 2001 and that the voice belonged to the photographerPaul Jasmin, and had been recorded as atemp track for Schieder.[13]
Shooting took place entirely in Japan, atToho Studios and at various locations in Tokyo andKōriyama.[7] The climactic depiction of theMishima Incident was filmed at aFukushima Prefectural Government building in Kōriyama, because it had a similar style of architecture to the real Camp Ichigaya building.[14][15]
Because the crew was largely Japanese, Paul Schrader relied on four interpreters (including sister-in-law Cheiko and producerAlan Poul) to direct.[7]
Themusical score forMishima was composed byPhilip Glass, with parts performed by theKronos Quartet. A soundtrack album was released onvinyl record andAudio CD in 1985 byNonesuch Records.
Mishima dramatizes three of the writer's novels and also uses segments from his novelConfessions of a Mask. At least two scenes, one showing the young Mishima being aroused by a painting ofSaint Sebastian and another where he exaggerates his illness at a military health examination, appear inConfessions of a Mask.
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.[16] As Schrader wanted to visualize a book illustrating Mishima's narcissism and sexual ambiguity, he chose the novelKyoko's House (which he had translated for him exclusively) instead.Kyoko's House contains four storylines following different protagonists, but Schrader picked only the one which he considered most relevant.[17]
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, theTemple of the Golden Pavilion-episode is dominated by golden and green,Kyoko's House by pink and grey, andRunaway Horses by orange and black.[8]
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.[18]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.[19]
Under the titleMISHIMA — November 25th,Clear Skies (Japanese:MISHIMA ――11月25日・快晴),[20] the film was scheduled to premiere at the 1985Tokyo International Film Festival. However, it was withdrawn and never officially released in Japan until 2025, mostly due to a boycott exercised by Mishima's widow and threats by right-wing groups opposed to Mishima's portrayal as ahomosexual.[8]
In an interview with Kevin Jackson published in 1992, Schrader commented on the fact that his film had 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."[17]
The film was presented in Japanese Classics at the38th Tokyo International Film Festival on October 30, 2025. It was the film's Japan premiere, 40 years after its first release.[9][21] Paul Schrader appeared at a talk show before the film screening.[21]
Mishima has been released three times onDVD in the US, two of which byThe Criterion Collection who also produced itsBlu-ray release.
AFrench DVD was released by Wild Side Video in 2010 titledMishima – une vie en quatre chapitres in Japanese, English and French language with French subtitles.
ASpanishBlu-ray Disc was released in 2010 titledMishima – Una Vida en Cuatro Capítulos. It features Schrader's narration with optional Spanish andCatalan, but no English, subtitles.
Onreview aggregator websiteRotten 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."[22] 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."[23] In 2007,Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list, calling the film "a triumph of concise writing and construction" in which "the unconventional structure...unfolds with perfect clarity, the logic revealing itself."[24]
Chris Peachment ofTime Out 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."[25]
Schrader considersMishima the best film he has directed: "It's the one I'd stand by – as a screenwriter it'sTaxi Driver, but as a director it'sMishima."[17]
The film premiered at the1985 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 1985, where it won the award for Best Artistic Contribution.[10]
