Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

2021-05-21

Yukio Mishima, a renowned Japanese author whose talents and beliefs stretched far beyond the confines of pen and paper, explored and attempted to transcend what each of us at some point entertains: the limitations of the human experience. How? By ingesting, deconstructing, and reassembling the narrative of his life to create a multilayered and unwavering testament to living and dying as a work of art. In Paul Schrader’s 1985 biopic, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, the director attempts to capture on screen the many masks, pe...

In Paul Schrader’s 1985 biopic, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, the director attempts to capture on screen the many masks, personas, and realities of this controversial figure by revisiting and adapting the pivotal moments that led to Mishima’s infamous final performance. With each layer of reality being vastly different from the next, the viewer is given one piece after another to form a unique and ever-shifting portrait of a human whose obsession with death drove them to encase their life in amber by becoming a sentient work of art.

What role does art play in the history of civilizations? When names are erased and bones are turned to dust, what is left to remember, if anything at all? Symbols, messages, ideas… art as a means of preservation and hedge against the bet; a trump card whose only aim is to test the hand of the dealer whose name is Death.

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