Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985 Directed by Paul Schrader
Synopsis
A fictional account of the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima told in four parts. The first three parts relate events in three of his novels: The temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Ranaway Horses. The last part depicts the events of 25th November 1970.
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My takeaway from Mishima is basically "I want more". And what I want more of is theatre.
For each of the first three titular chapters, colourful recreations of Yukio Mishima's plays are woven into the fabric of an otherwise quite normal black and white biopic (itself framed by spare scenes from the last day of Mishima's life, which gets full play in the final, heartbreaking chapter). This is a brilliant film in so many ways, but in my mind, Paul Schrader and company's* biggest achievement is the way these stagey interludes work, in equal measures, to reflect back on the biographical story told by the rest of the film, as tributes to a brilliant playwright, as commentary on his life,…
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great way to tell a story about a total douche.
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I need to revisit this. When I saw it in the theatre, I didn't understand it and therefore, hated it.
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I have no idea who this guy is or what he was known for that the film is based on. If it helps I saw the version with the Roy Scheider voice over, but this film was a major struggle to get through. I really am not a fan of artsy type films, and even less of movies that seem to have a bigger meaning but one can't find it cause you are too bored to care.
I gather that the more colorful three parts of this film were based on this guy's books maybe? Whatever the case the sets looked very cheap and besides one scene at the end of the last story, they all were clearly filmed on…
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Great soundtrack, amazing colour and style. Truly a great idea to pace and place the novels of a doomed author at the day of his death. Schrader proves he can direct as well as write.
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Stylistic & aesthetic. A fascinating depiction of Mishima's life.
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Very interesting, structurally, and somehow still minimal in technique. The fiction sequences have a very 80s dated sort of look to the costumes and set design, which bothered be a little.
Mishima as a protagonist is completely fascinating and Schrader handles his subject with care, respect, and doesn't moralize on Mishima's ethics or ideologies. One of the best biopics I've seen.
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very unique biopic about the life of the japanese homosexual novelist, bodybuilder and fascist leader who committed harakiri. that bizzare life is enough to make for an amazing film in its own right yet the approach schrader takes by weaving in stunning recreations of three of his novels into its web of stories makes for something far greater, using his own art to explore the personality of a man who set out to make his life art. the set designs of these recreations are so beautiful and philip glass's grandiose soundtrack creates a combination of music, visuals and story that's simply breathtaking.
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My takeaway from Mishima is basically "I want more". And what I want more of is theatre.
For each of the first three titular chapters, colourful recreations of Yukio Mishima's plays are woven into the fabric of an otherwise quite normal black and white biopic (itself framed by spare scenes from the last day of Mishima's life, which gets full play in the final, heartbreaking chapter). This is a brilliant film in so many ways, but in my mind, Paul Schrader and company's* biggest achievement is the way these stagey interludes work, in equal measures, to reflect back on the biographical story told by the rest of the film, as tributes to a brilliant playwright, as commentary on his life,…
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A visually fascinating look into the life of a very strange Japanese man (even by Japanese standards). The Philip Glass score is phenomenal. Paul Schrader should be commended for making a biopic the proper way: film the movie to reflect the character you're depicting. If only "Hitchcock" had done the same.
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This is how you make a biopic.
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There's a lot going on in this movie in terms of narrative and style, but it all gels together really well. Every segment is crucial towards building a rudimentary understanding of the titular subject, and there is not a wasted minute. The unification of the ending is really something to behold.