MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS 4K Review

Directed and co-written by Paul Schrader (First Reformed, The Canyons, Cat People, American Gigolo), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, is out now from our friends at Criterion in a gorgeous 4K/Blu-ray combo release. The film is a departure of sorts from his filmography in that he blends a traditional biopic with old-school stage theatrics, by way of Eiko Ishioka’s stunning production design. (She would go on to design the costumes for Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, for which she won a well-deserved Academy Award.) 

In Mishima, Schrader profiles the film’s namesake, a postwar Japanese author, whose birth name was Kimitake Hiraoka. He was also a poet, playwright, model, and apparently a closeted, right-wing insurrectionist. In fact, the film was banned in Japan and Mishima’s family tried very hard to keep any references to his homosexuality out of the film, which is a film factoid that’s outlined in one of the included booklet’s essays. 

Schrader’s feature opens on the day that Mishima, Japan’s most famous living novelist at the time in 1970, attempts to overthrow the General in Tokyo. When no one wants to join him (in fact, he was met with silence and then heckled) but his own “private army,” a handful of men sympathetic to his cause, he commits public, ritualistic seppuku. Like a grandfather clock’s pendulum, Schrader swings back and forth between flashback of the author’s life to stagings of a few of the tales he wrote, as mentioned above. Blink, and you may have trouble deciphering which is which, though Eiko Ishioka’s sets are often highly stylized and would not be out of place on Broadway.

There are many, many fans of this film, and that’s just fine, please enjoy anything in this miserable world. I found a lot to admire about it in pieces, but ultimately, I could not connect to such a character and his wants, needs, and lofty ambitions. And I’m being generous here. Mishima is a beautiful film made by artists and technicians at the top of their craft. Philip Glass score? Hell yes. Eiko Ishioka? Always and forever. John Bailey’s (Silverado, Groundhog Day) cinematography? Absolutely gorgeous. The acting is also great. But among all of these wonderful pieces, I found the film to be very cold and the story inaccessible with which to empathize. 

As stated above, the film is beautiful, breathtaking at times due to its cinematography, color, sets, and costumes. The flawless restoration is probably the best the film has looked since its initial festival run and theatrical release. Sound is similarly flawless; you won’t struggle to hear dialogue in the mix. Everything is crystal clear.

The special features have been ported over from the previous Criterion Blu-ray release; the entire disc is included in this package. The featurettes all serve to further illuminate viewers on the film that are worth watching, including a 1985 documentary on the author. I liked learning that Eiko Ishioka initially turned the job down because she didn’t like the subject, either.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

If you’d like to add the new 4K/Blu-ray combo release of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters to your home library, head over to Criterion Collection’s page for the film here.