Review of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) by Adam T — 15 Jul 2008

Continuing in the same vein as Taxi Driver, Paul Schrader once again presents us with a portrait of suicidal pathology, only this one is far more challenging and complex -- unfortunately, it's also far less entertaining and emotionally involving. First and foremost, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is a stunningly original creation, a biopic about the famous Japanese author which blends incidents from his life (filmed in traditional black and white) with sequences from his books, the surreal aesthetics of which stand out like some candy-colored nightmare. I'll certainly give this film high praise for its uniqueness and sheer bravery, but I found it frustratingly lacking on an emotional level.

The scenes of Mishima's life are accompanied by a voice-over narration which, along with dialogue in the segments inspired by Mishima's writings, clearly tries to establish a portrait of the artist, of his life, of his philosophy, of what motivated his actions and inspired his art. However, the screenplay is remarkably complex and esoteric, and by the end of the film I found that I understood almost nothing about Yukio Mishima or his motivations, and as a result I was unable to relate to him or emotionally involve myself in the details of his life (which is quite unlike Taxi Driver, as I found myself deeply invested in Schrader's Travis Bickle character). Of course, this is all very subjective territory; after all, it's quite possible that there are numerous individuals who find a kindred spirit in Mishima while being completely perplexed by the anti-social tendencies of De Niro's 'Taxi Driver.' Be that as it may, this most certainly wasn't the case for me, and so I digress on that point. Obviously I was able to appreciate this film on an academic and intellectual level, but the problem is that I feel that great cinema should primarily be a visceral experience, and that its main goal should be to invoke powerful emotions in the viewer. With that in mind, academic appreciation just doesn't cut it, and so this turned out to be a tremendous disappointment (although it gets three stars simply for being unlike ANYTHING ever conceived before).