Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
1985 · Movie · R · 121 min · ★ 7.8 · 80% critics
This stylized biographical drama follows a celebrated Japanese writer as his final day unfolds, while flashbacks and vivid dramatizations of his fiction reveal the ideas that shaped him. As art and real life echo each other, the film explores beauty, identity, and political conviction through four distinct chapters.
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Details
- Years
- 1985
- Release date
- 1985-09-20
- Language
- Japanese
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 121 min
- Critic score
- 80/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.8/10 (348 votes)
- Box office
- $569,996
- Budget
- $5,000,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want an intense, art-forward biographical drama that blends real events with stylized story vignettes, like Farewell My Concubine; Not for you if you prefer straightforward, warm, easy-to-follow storytelling.
Pros: striking, dreamlike visuals; bold art-and-life structure; powerful, driving music | Cons: emotionally chilly tone; can be hard to follow; heavy narration at times
Themes
- suicide
- identity
- patriotism
- nationalism
- coup d'etat
- author
- art
- lgbt
- gay theme
- four chapters
Cast & crew
Ken Ogata
as Yukio Mishima
Kenji Sawada
as Osamu
Bandō Mitsugorō X
as Mizoguchi
Toshiyuki Nagashima
as Isao
Masayuki Shionoya
as Morita
Hiroshi Mikami
as Cadet #1
- JF
Junya Fukuda
as Cadet #2
Yuu Tokui
as Cadet #3
Junkichi Orimoto
as General Mashita
Naoko Ohtani
as Mother
Directed by Paul Schrader