Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Paul Schrader’s visually stunning, collagelike portrait of the acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted the impossible task of finding harmony among self, art, and society. Taking place on the last day of Mishima’s life, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer’s past 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 tribute to its subject and a bold, investigative work of art in its own right.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 4K digital restoration of the director’s cut, supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John Bailey, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Two alternate English narrations, including one by actor Roy Scheider
- Audio commentary featuring Schrader and producer Alan Poul
- Program on the making of the film featuring Bailey, producers Tom Luddy and Mata Yamamoto, composer Philip Glass, and production designer Eiko Ishioka
- Program on Yukio Mishima featuring his biographer John Nathan and friend Donald Richie
- Audio interview with coscreenwriter Chieko Schrader
- Interview excerpt from 1966 featuring Mishima talking about writing
- The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima, a 1985 documentary about the author
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka’s sets
Cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Collector's Sets
Collector's Set
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 4K digital restoration of the director’s cut, supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John Bailey, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Two alternate English narrations, including one by actor Roy Scheider
- Audio commentary featuring Schrader and producer Alan Poul
- Program on the making of the film featuring Bailey, producers Tom Luddy and Mata Yamamoto, composer Philip Glass, and production designer Eiko Ishioka
- Program on Yukio Mishima featuring his biographer John Nathan and friend Donald Richie
- Audio interview with coscreenwriter Chieko Schrader
- Interview excerpt from 1966 featuring Mishima talking about writing
- The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima, a 1985 documentary about the author
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film’s censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka’s sets
Cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Cast
- Ken Ogata
- Yukio Mishima
- Masayuki Shionoya
- Morita
- Hiroshi Mikami
- Cadet no. 1
- Junya Fukuda
- Cadet no. 2
- Shigeto Tachihara
- Cadet no. 3
- Junkichi Orimoto
- General Mashita
- Go Riju
- Mishima, age 18–19
- Yuki Nagahara
- Mishima, age 5
- Yasosuke Bando
- Mizoguchi
- Hisako Manda
- Mariko
- Kenji Sawada
- Osamu
- Reisen Lee
- Kiyomi
- Setsuko Karasuma
- Mitsuko
- Yasuaki Kurata
- Takei
- Toshiyuki Nagashima
- Isao
- Hiroshi Katsuno
- Lieutenant Hori
- Hiroki Ida
- Izutsu
- Jun Negami
- Kurahara
Credits
- Director
- Paul Schrader
- Executive producer
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Executive producer
- George Lucas
- Producer
- Tom Luddy
- Producer
- Mata Yamamoto
- Writer
- Paul Schrader
- Writer
- Leonard Schrader
- Japanese script by
- Chieko Schrader
- Script research by
- Akiko Hitomi
- Associate producer
- Leonard Schrader
- Associate producer
- Chieko Schrader
- Associate producer
- Alan Poul
- Director of photography
- John Bailey
- Executive art director
- Kazuo Takenaka
- Production design
- Eiko Ishioka
- Tokyo editor
- Tomoyo Oshima
- Original music composed and arranged by
- Philip Glass
- Music produced by
- Kurt Munkacsi
- Music conducted by
- Michael Riesman
- Editor
- Michael Chandler
A scene from Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
