Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet. Ken Ogata stars as Yukio Mishima, while Roy Scheider gives an off-screen English narration, also as Mishima. The film was produced in Japan by Franc...
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Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an episodic, stylized 1985 film based on the life and work of the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Paul and his brother Leonard Schrader. The film features original music by Philip Glass and performances by the Kronos Quartet. Ken Ogata stars as Yukio Mishima, while Roy Scheider gives an off-screen English narration, also as Mishima. The film was produced in Japan by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas while they were involved with Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha.
Schrader has said that he considers Mishima the best film he has directed. "It's the one I'd stand by - as a screenwriter it's Taxi Driver, but as a director it's Mishima."
The film is drawn into four chapters: Beauty, Art, Action, and Harmony of Pen and Sword. Each chapter features black and white flashbacks from Mishima's life, highly stylized, theatrical scenes from three Mishima novels (The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoko's House, and Runaway...
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