Mishima – Ein Leben in vier Kapiteln (1985)

Mishima – Ein Leben in vier Kapiteln: Directed by Paul Schrader. With Ken Ogata, Masayuki Shionoya, Hiroshi Mikami, Junya Fukuda. A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

“u0026quot;Mishima: A Life in Four Chaptersu0026quot; is one of those films which is extremely hard to write about simply because it hit me on such an emotional level and stunned me with its artistry to the point where writing a review or comment on the film seems trivial and useless. Hence, this will be rambling and poorly-written, but Iu0026#39;ll give it a shot anyway.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe easiest thing to talk about when discussing u0026quot;Mishima: A Life in Four Chaptersu0026quot; is the technical elements of the film. The narrative is superb and fairly original with a fine script by Chieko, Leonard, and Paul Schrader and Schraderu0026#39;s decisions as director are pretty much faultless. Every stylistic turn the film took, every sequence which took a risk, and pretty much the whole time the camera was in motion I was utterly enthralled and fascinated with how well the film works as a film. Paul Schrader may not be as great a storyteller as some of the great directors are but in u0026quot;Mishimau0026quot; he proves that he is more than capable of being a wonderful storyteller if necessary. The film moves at an extraordinarily fast pace and one barely notices the passing of the two hours.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI have to say, despite being a literature buff to an extent, I have never read anything by Mishima. I knew one or two things about Mishima, including the big ending to his story (which I wonu0026#39;t reveal, to keep this spoiler-free) prior to seeing the film, but not much else. Perhaps this is why I felt, contrary to some others, that the film got progressively stronger and ended with a breathtakingly brilliant final act. I also found it completely refreshing how this biopic took no position on Mishima or the final act of his life- it is simply a portrait of a man, not a comment on his life. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Phillip Glass score is utterly brilliant. There is very little of this film that doesnu0026#39;t prominently feature it, which can come off as the result of a lack of confidence from the director, but in this case it is used superbly well in the film. The score is original, vibrant, interesting, and memorable- much like the film itself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Mishima: A Life in Four Chaptersu0026quot; is a film that is certainly ripe for interpretation and analysis. I am not going to attempt to provide either of those, mostly because Iu0026#39;m not really in a position to, and also because I found this a profoundly emotional experience, a film of such artistry that it is a film that everyone should experience without preconceived notions of quality or content and one that everyone should attempt their own analysis of. Itu0026#39;s that special. Itu0026#39;s that good.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e10/10”