Paul Schrader's visually stunning structurally audacious collage-like portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yuko 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 (ritual suicide) the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer's life as well as 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 sincere tribute to its subject and a bold investigative work of art in its own right.DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:New restored high-definition digital transfer of the director's cut supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John BaileyOptional English and Japanese voice-over narrations the former by Roy Scheider the latter by Ken OgataNew audio commentary featuring Schrader and producer Alan PoulThe Strange Case of Yukio Mishima a 55-minute BBC documentary about the authorNew interviews with Donald Richie and John Nathan collaborators and friends of Yukio MishimaNew interviews with Bailey producers Tom Luddy and Mata Yamamoto composer Philip Glass and production designer Eiko IshiokaA new audio interview with coscreenwriter Chieko SchraderA video interview excerpt featuring Mishima talking about writingTheatrical trailerNew and improved English subtitle translationPLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Kevin Jackson and a piece on the film's censorship in JapanSystem Requirements:Running Time: 120 minutes Language: Japanese Subtitles: EnlishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/COMING OF AGE UPC: 715515029728 Manufacturer No: CC1752DDVD
With Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Paul Schrader constructs a puzzle-box portrait of the controversial author (1925-1970) who turned his life into a work of art. Presented by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, Schrader outdoes his benefactors in sheer audacity alone. In the opening sequence, which weaves throughout the film, Yukio Mishima (riveting Shohei Imamura regular Ken Ogata) prepares for death as the director cuts to pivotal moments from his past. Shot by American Gigolo's John Bailey and designed by The Cell's Eiko Ishioka, stately black and white footage alternates with eye-popping color sequences. With an assist from Leonard and Chieko Schrader, his brother and sister-in-law, the filmmaker blends Mishima's fiction into his biography, and splits the whole four ways: beauty, art, action, and harmony of pen and sword (the brothers also wrote Sydney Pollack's Japanese thriller The Yakuza). Encouraged by his controlling grandmother, Mishima becomes a conflicted figure, torn between mind and body, pain and pleasure--men and women. As he states, "All my life I have been acutely aware of a contradiction in the very nature of my existence." (This collector's edition includes separate voice-over tracks by Ogata and Roy Scheider.) The first disc houses a gorgeous transfer of the film, the theatrical trailer, and comprehensive commentary from Schrader and producer Alan Poul; the second offers a making-of featurette (with Bailey, Ishioka, and composer Philip Glass), audio and video interviews (including translator and biographer John Nathan), a 1966 chat with Mishima for French TV, and a 1985 John Hurt-narrated documentary for the BBC. Unlike Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima, which found favor in the East, Paul Schrader's risk-filled endeavor resulted in a ban in his subject’s home country--and the director's crowning achievement. --Kathleen C. Fennessy