MoFo MC February - Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

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Welcome back everyone, we hope you enjoyed the film, and we hope you enjoy the podcast, which you can hear above, or download here. This month's special guest is bluedeed. Please leave your responses/ramblings, lots to discuss here.

Everyone should give this a listen! I haven't myself yet, but that's just because I don't like hearing my own voice. Considering that the film consists of biography and adaptation, I don't think it relies heavily on surprise in the plot (or spoilers, as is the key phrase). I think you can listen to the podcast without having seen the movie and you'll still enjoy it and it won't ruin the movie

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Mubi

Judging by the poster and the little bits of information I had heard about the film, I would never have guessed that this was from Paul Schrader. I'll definitely try and check it out soon, sounds interesting, and so does Schrader from bits and bobs I just read about him.

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I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to this yet. Hopefully I can soon.

Thanks for the podcast guys.

I must admit I was struggling through this film a few weeks ago, so gave it a break halfway through. This afternoon I watched that old BBC docu about Mishima I mentioned in the original post and then picked up on the film. This time I found a better coherence in the second half, or maybe that was just me feeling more comfortable knowing who the man actually was.
He was a controversial figure in Japan it seems , so Schrader has taken a great way of portraying his life by incorporating his work into the film, otherwise maybe Mishima would just have come across as a great writer but a pretty nasty piece of work. The choice of Ken Ogata to play Mishima was a safe choice, he's such a great actor.

I liked the end scenes in the military office, the globe symbolically falling off the stand then resting behind him when he commits seppuku. He is in his head then, at the end, a samurai.

I'm glad I stuck with it cos it was interesting and the score was ace Schrader did well at getting inside Mishima's head as at no point I was thinking this is a Western film take on a curious Japanese story, it felt Japanese.

Mishima's words here about sum him up:

Words are a deceit. In order to transform reality the writer must be deceitful but action is never deceitful. The harmony of pen and sword, the samurai model used to be a way of life now it's forgotten. Can art and action still be united?

I had heard about the film, I would never have guessed that this was from Paul Schroeder. I'll definitely try and check it out soon, sounds interesting, and so does Schroeder from bits and bobs I just read about him.

Everybody who likes/wants to see the film should watch Patriotism (1966)!

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

what is so important about patriotism ?