Art Paul Schrader's 'Mishima' screened in Tokyo for the first time since its 1985 release

[thomas]

The director Paul Schrader recalls wearing a knife-proof vest on set in Tokyo when he began filming "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" in 1984. Japan's ultranationalist right had denounced the production, furious that a group of Americans planned to dramatise the life of Yukio Mishima, a celebrated novelist they revered as a martyr for his failed attempt to restore the emperor's divine authority. Schrader shot the film without incident, and "Mishima" received the award for best artistic contribution at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985. But for decades, it was quietly barred from an official release in Japan.

Gift article:

Why Japan Exiled a Film About a Famed Japanese Writer

“Mishima,” which explores nationalism, sexuality and ritual suicide, was screened in Tokyo for the first time since its 1985 release.

www.nytimes.com

Link:

Literature  Mishima Yukio (1925-1970)

Renowned poet, actor, reactionaryBorn on 14 January 1925, in Yotsuya, Tokyo, under the name Hiraoka Kimitake (平岡公威), the young Mishima was raised by his grandmother Natsu, an illegitimate granddaughter of Matsudaira Yoritaka (松平頼位), the daimyō of Shishido in Hitachi Province. Her eccentric...

• JREF
• 2 May 2012
• Comments: 1
• Category: Culture & Society

 

[Ukigumo]

I'm utterly amazed to hear about this!