TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Country: United States of America
Language: Japanese
Year: 1985
Running Time: 121 min
SYNOPSIS
Paul Schrader’s visually stunning, collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self, art, and society. Taking place on Mishima’s last day, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer’s life as well as by gloriously stylized evocations of his fictional works. With its rich cinematography by John Bailey, exquisite sets and costumes by Eiko Ishioka, and unforgettable, highly influential score by Philip Glass, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.
CREDITS
Director Paul Schrader
Screenplay Chieko Schrader
Screenplay Leonard Schrader
Screenplay Paul Schrader
Executive Producer Francis Ford Coppola
Executive Producer George Lucas
Producer Mata Yamamoto
Producer Mataichiro Yamamoto
Producer Tom Luddy
Associate Producer Leonard Schrader
Music Philip Glass
Cinematography John Bailey
Production Design Eiko Ishioka
Costume Designer Eiko Ishioka
Sound Leslie Shatz
Visual Effects Catherine Craig
Editor Michael Chandler
CAST
Ken Ogata as Yukio Mishima
Masayuki Shionoya as Morita
Hiroshi Mikami as Cadet no. 1
Junya Fukunda as Cadet no. 2
Shigeto Tachibara as Cadet no. 3
ADDITIONAL INFO
Best Artistic Contribution - Cannes Film Festival
 
Paul Schrader  | director
Paul Schrader is a renowned American screenwriter and film director. After graduating from film school in Los Angeles he worked as a film critic until selling his first script in 1975, THE YAKUZA. The next year he wrote the screenplay for Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER, the success of which led to his 1978 directorial debut, BLUE COLLAR. Known for his depictions of desperate men with moral ambivalence, he has written several screenplays, including three more with Scorsese: RAGING BULL (1980), THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988) and BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1999). He has also directed movies, often from his own scripts, including AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980), AFFLICTION (1997) and a movie about Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (1985), which is regarded as one of the greatest of biographical films in the history.
Filmography
2008 Adam Resurrected
2007 The Walker
2005 Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
2002 Auto Focus
1999 Forever Mine
1997 Affliction
1997 Touch
1994 Witch Hunt (TV movie)
1992 Light Sleeper
1990 The Comfort of Strangers
1988 Patty Hearst
1987 Light of Day
1985 Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
 
TRAILERS
 
 
PUBLICITY & REVIEWS
AWARDS
Year Category Awarded By Award Result Award Recipient
1985 Best Artistic Contribution Cannes Film Festival Winner John Bailey