Directed by Paul Schrader • 1985 • Japan, United States
Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collagelike portrait of acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Yukio Mishima (played by Ken Ogata) investigates the inner turmoil and contradictions of a man who attempted an impossible harmony between self, art, and society. Taking place on Mishima's last day, when he famously committed public seppuku, the film is punctuated by extended flashbacks to the writer's life as well as by 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.
Up Next in By the Book
-
My Life as a Dog
Directed by Lasse Hallström • 1985 • Sweden
Starring Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki LidenMY LIFE AS A DOG (MITT LIV SOM HUND) tells the story of Ingemar, a twelve-year-old from a working-class family sent to live with his uncle in a country village when his mother falls ill. There, ...
-
Betty Blue
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix • 1986 • France
Starring Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard DarmonWhen the easygoing would-be novelist Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) meets the tempestuous Betty (Béatrice Dalle, in a magnetic breakout performance) in a sunbaked French beach town, it’s the ...
-
Europa Europa
Directed by Agnieszka Holland • 1990 • Germany, France, Poland
Starring Marco Hofschneider, Julie DelpyAs World War II splits Europe, sixteen-year-old German Jew Salomon (Marco Hofschneider) is separated from his family after fleeing with them to Poland, and finds himself reluctantly assuming v...
