Since the late 1970s, Paul Schrader has been a semi-known director in the US, turning a series of movies of no particular style. One is "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters". I had never heard of Yukio Mishima before watching this movie. The movie is not a straightforward biography of the author. Rather, it looks at how something unimaginable becomes inevitable: no one would've envisioned Mishima doing what he eventually did.

The movie's form is more like US movies than Japanese movies, especially in the sequence showing the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The Philip Glass music defines the movie as a product of the US, even as it delves into who this author was and why he did what he eventually did.

It's not a masterpiece, but I like how it looks at these different periods in Mishima's life to create a complex character out of the man. The movie won't be for everyone due to the slow pace, but if you're a film buff then you're sure to love it, whether or not you know about Japan's history.

This film, executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, and written and directed by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, American Gigolo), is one I never would have heard of, if not listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I hoped it would be good. Basically it is a fictionalised biopic, in four chapters of, about the life and work of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata). Set on 25th November 1970, the last day of his life, he is seen finishing a manuscript, then he puts on a uniform to meet with his most loyal followers from his private army. In flashbacks, we see Mishima's progression, from sickly young boy to one of Japan's most acclaimed writers of the post-war era. He is loathsome of materialism of modern Japan, and sets up his own private army, proclaiming to reinstate the emperor as the head of state. The biographical sections are interwoven with short dramatizations of three of his novels: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway Horses. The film culminates in Mishima and his followers taking hostage a General of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, he makes an address to the garrison's soldiers, asking them to join his struggle to reinstate the Emperor as the nation's sovereign, his speech is largely ignored and ridiculed. It ends with Mishima returning to the General's office and committing seppuku, a Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Also starring Naoko Ôtani as Mother, Haruko Katô as Grandmother, Yuki Nagahara as Mishima, age 5, Masato Aizawa as Mishima, age 9-14, Gô Rijû as Mishima, age 18-19 and Junkichi Orimoto as General Mashita, and narrated by Roy Scheider. It is an interesting story, there are some memorable moments, both fictional and non-fictional, the use of scenery and colour is terrific, and the score composed by Philip Glass is great, including music I recognised that was used in the ending of The Truman Show, not a bad biographical drama. Worth watching!

A fictionalized account in four segments of the life of Japan's celebrated twentieth-century author Yukio Mishima. Three of the segments parallel events in Mishima's life with his novels.

This is a great film. I confess I really never heard of Yukio Mishima, and probably never read a single thing he wrote. But here he is brought to life and tells a story larger than life itself. Is it completely historically accurate? You know, probably not. But the details are not so much important here as the art itself.

What is perhaps most strange is who brought this tale to life: Paul Schrader. Brilliant, artistic, but not the first name you would expect when it comes to Japanese history and literature...