Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

1985
R
2h

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

15K

YOUR RATING

Ken Ogata in Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

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99+ Photos

Biography Drama

A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.A fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

15K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Trivia
Yukio Mishima's family originally cooperated with the making of this film but when their request that the gay bar scene be removed was denied, they withdrew their help.

Goofs
Mishima didn't exaggerate his illness. He was declared unfit for military service because of an inexperienced Army physician's misdiagnosis.

Quotes
Yukio Mishima (Narrator): The average age for a man in the Bronze Age was eighteen, in the Roman era, twenty-two. Heaven must have been beautiful then. Today it must look dreadful. When a man reaches forty, he has no chance to die beautifully. No matter how he tries, he will die of decay. He must compel himself to live.

Crazy credits
Yukio Mishima is acknowledged to have been a real person, but his acts have been fictionalized by writers. Other persons and events in this film are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons and events is unintentional.

Alternate versions
On Japanese television, the gay bar scene is cut out.

Connections
Featured in Mardi cinéma: Episode dated 14 May 1985 (1985)

User reviews52

Review

Featured review

Magnificent

A story told in four chapters and in three levels. Flashbacks of Yukio Mishima's life, dramatizations of his written works, and the events of his final day of life.

If Mishima was a fictional character, I doubt if anyone would believe or accept such a creation. But he was a real, flesh and blood, human being, which makes the film all the more incredible. Granted that some of the facts have been dramatized or "enhanced" for the screen, but the story is quite factual.

A man of many contrasts: A devoted family man who kept a gay lover. A writer who saw his words being "not enough". A patriotic man at home in the present who yearned for a return to Imperial Japan's past glory. A man who struggled to unite movement with action, and saw everything he strove for fall apart at the most critical moment.

The film is lovingly made, magnificently acted, painstakingly edited and the musical soundtrack by Philip Glass will stay with you for days. The film's tight budget doesn't show at all.

Now available on DVD, this film is a worthy addition to the collections of true cinemaphiles.

My rating: 10/10