--- title: "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" year: 1985 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters" fi1m_score: 86 critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 17 published: "2026-09-16T14:08:23.790128+00:00" updated: "2026-09-16T14:08:35.462035+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985) Directed by Paul Schrader · 2h 01m · MPA R · Drama **Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 82 from 17 reviews *In a sentence:* A writer takes himself terribly seriously, and the scenery gives him every encouragement > Paul Schrader makes a demanding, absorbing portrait of Yukio Mishima, with Ken Ogata holding together its shifts between life and fiction. The theatrical novel sequences reward the effort, though the man’s political convictions need harder questioning. ## Synopsis On 25 November 1970, Japanese writer Yukio Mishima (Ken Ogata) tries to bring his life into agreement with the ideals in his books. His past unfolds in black and white, while passages from his novels appear in staged colour, with Mizoguchi (Bandō Mitsugorō X) and Osamu (Kenji Sawada) among the fictional characters. The account moves between memories, dramatisations and the events of that day. Mishima’s devotion to writing and beauty runs alongside his political convictions, as his wish to act on his beliefs becomes harder to contain. ## Review *Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters* is an absorbing film about a writer who wants his life to justify the things he writes. Paul Schrader gives that ambition an unusually persuasive form, placing black-and-white biography beside theatrical versions of the novels and the events of 25 November 1970. The film asks us to take Yukio Mishima’s appetite for beauty and discipline seriously, without making him easy company. We recommend it, with reservations about how gently it questions his politics. Ken Ogata makes the writer’s seriousness credible even when his ideas are difficult to accept. His Mishima has enough authority to hold our attention through the shifts between biography and fiction. We need to believe that this man could regard artistic discipline as a way of organising an entire life, and the performance gives us that belief without asking for affection. He keeps the biographical passages from feeling like notes supplied to explain the books. We were exhilarated when the monochrome biography gave way to the staged colour of the fiction. Cinematographer John Bailey makes the change unmistakable, so that we know we are entering a novel without needing an explanation of every connection. Eiko Ishioka’s production design lets the sets look like sets, giving the imagined scenes a freedom that naturalistic locations would restrict. The pleasure comes from seeing how much a film about writing can do without simply illustrating an author at work. Philip Glass’s score helps those separate kinds of scene belong to the same film. It gives the images urgency and feeling without requiring the dialogue to explain why Mishima’s imagined worlds matter to him. Editors Tomoyo Ōshima and Michael Chandler repeatedly bring biography and fiction into contact, trusting the change of image to prompt the comparison. Some transitions demand a little work from us, but the distinct visual styles provide a dependable guide through the 121 minutes. Where the film is less satisfying is in its treatment of politics. Paul Schrader is so interested in the writer’s wish to unite belief and action that the appeal of that wish receives more attention than the consequences for other people. The beauty of the novel sequences makes this a real difficulty: we are invited to feel the pull of his obsessions, and the invitation works. We wanted the film to question his convictions as closely as it examines his writing. A literary biography can become a dutiful list of experiences that supposedly account for the books. Here the fictional scenes are allowed to be strange and exaggerated, and to complicate what the life appears to tell us. Knowledge of the novels would help with some connections, but their colour and deliberate artificiality have an immediate appeal of their own. Give it an evening when nobody needs the story to keep moving in a straight line. *Fi1m score 86, published 16 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to Paul Schrader’s unconventional portrait of Yukio Mishima, praising its interweaving of biography and theatrical adaptations of the writer’s novels. The contrast between monochrome memories and vivid colour dramatisations draws particular admiration, with the reviews finding that these shifts illuminate the connections between his writing and personal obsessions. Praise also clusters around Philip Glass’s score and Ken Ogata’s central performance, which several critics find compelling amid the elaborate staging. The differences concern how readily that staging lets viewers understand or feel close to Mishima. The Guardian finds the film emotionally constrained, while The New York Times offers the most qualified response, describing a fragmented portrait that risks confusing anyone unfamiliar with the books. Other reservations concern slow passages, omissions and structural complexity. The spread runs from enthusiastic praise to guarded approval, with even the more reserved reviews finding something absorbing in the attempt. ### Reviews we read (17) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (5/5): Schrader's film reaches the peak of his search for lonely protagonists by blending straight biography with stylized depictions of Mishima's inner world and novels, making an unsavoury character compelling through wit, honour, and artistic dedication, highlighted by stunning stage recreations, Glass score, and photography. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters) - **The AV Club**, Nathan Rabin (A): The critic calls it Schrader's magnum opus, a dreamy hypnotic meditation on the intersection of Mishima's life and art rather than a conventional biopic. It praises the elegant juxtaposition of biographical scenes with dramatizations of the author's novels, along with the cinematography that unites sound, image, ideas, and sensual rapture. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-1798204494) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): The critic describes it as a daringly original biopic that interweaves Mishima's life in black-and-white with colourful dramatizations of his novels, ultimately reflecting more on Schrader's own neuroses than the subject. It is praised as an exceptional, original movie that is ravishingly shot with a hauntingly brilliant Philip Glass score. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/mishima-life-four-chapters-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Schrader’s unconventional biopic is one of the best, using a tripartite structure of black-and-white biography, stylized novel excerpts in vivid color, and the final day of Mishima’s life to examine how the writer fused his art, obsessions, and death. The film’s clarity and intelligence make it a singular achievement despite its challenging subject. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-1985) - **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (90/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as an avant-garde portrait keyed to Mishima's aesthetic and spiritual evolution, using theatrical stagings of his novels to explore his shifting mindset and impulses toward self-annihilation. It singles out the film's ambitious structure and how it takes seriously the creative journey leading to his death while shining on the restored transfer. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters/) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (90/100, inferred): The gorgeous, artsy 1985 biopic is the best movie Paul Schrader has directed. It presents a compelling and contradictory figure through monochrome flashbacks and garish color enactments of his work, with a monumental performance from Ken Ogata. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-xp63fkxj0t2) - **The New Yorker**, Michael Sragow (85/100, inferred): Schrader’s collage is one of the most gorgeous and sophisticated portraits of an artist on film, showing how Mishima strove to unite art, life, and politics through stylized novel dramatizations and a realistic account of his final day. The movie itself is a work of art with enormous vitality. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters) - **Little White Lies**, Tom Graham (80/100, inferred): Schrader's innovative biopic interweaves reality, memory, and imagination to explore how Mishima's life and art were inseparable, culminating in his dramatic suicide as the ultimate artistic act. The critic praises the film's visual styles and Philip Glass score for illuminating the parallels between the author's novels and his personal obsessions. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/yukio-mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (80/100, inferred): Schrader’s boldly conceived film is an intelligent and consistently absorbing study that blends realistic elements of Mishima’s final day with stylized renditions of his semi-autobiographical novels. Production values are stunning and performances authoritative, though pacing lags at times and uninitiated viewers may be confused. [Read](https://variety.com/1984/film/reviews/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-1200426523/) - **Evening Standard** (70/100, inferred): The piece notes that Schrader's 1985 biopic necessarily condenses Mishima's controversial life but highlights its superb visual style, a haunting score by Philip Glass and an impressive lead performance by Ken Ogata. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/mishma-shows-a-controversial-life-7415400.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Sheila Benson (70/100, inferred): The film is a beautiful, deadly serious attempt to illuminate Mishima’s enigmatic life and death through intercut biography, stylized novel excerpts, and his final day, with stunning production design by Eiko Ishioka. Structural complications and omissions leave it tantalizing but difficult to fully enter. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-03-ca-875-story.html) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): Paul Schrader's 1985 film is an ambitious, respectful account of Yukio Mishima's life and work. It intersperses biographical episodes with stylized dramatizations of his novels and is stylish but emotionally constrained. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jul/10/mishima-life-in-four-chapters) - **The New York Times**, Janet Maslin (65/100, inferred): The film is a splintered but tolerable attempt to portray Mishima’s narcissism and death obsession through excerpts from his novels, though it may confuse viewers unfamiliar with the source material. Maslin finds it engaging enough to potentially send audiences to the books, particularly The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/20/movies/mishima-a-life-of-the-japanese-writer.html) - **Collider**, Andre Dellamorte (85/100, inferred): The review praises the film as a singular, visually striking experience and the high point of Paul Schrader's directorial career, noting its respectful yet bold approach to Japanese culture and themes through intercut biography and stylized novel adaptations. [Read](https://collider.com/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-criterion-dvd-review/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (B+): Schrader has referred to ‘Mishima’ as his best work as director and the motion picture is a tremendous accomplishment with arresting imagery and stylistic flourishes. It embraces the director’s favorite concepts through a portrait that blends reality and fiction aided by a moving Philip Glass score. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/paul-schrader-essential-films-retrospective-20130805/2/) - **Paste**, Tim Sheridan (80/100, inferred): The review describes it as a beautiful, meticulous portrait of a tortured artist that serves as an homage to Japanese film and culture, highlighting the strong performance by Ken Ogata and Philip Glass's score in a Criterion edition context. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/paul-schrader/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters) - **Eye for Film**, Jeff Robson (70/100, inferred): The film is a striking and fascinating one-off that looks fantastic with a magnificent Philip Glass score and a mesmerizing central performance from Ken Ogata. It is a consciously arty meditation that disorients the viewer and may prove too challenging or elusive for some tastes despite its memorable moments. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters-film-review-by-jeff-robson) ## Details - **Director:** Paul Schrader - **Director:** Paul Schrader - **Screenplay:** Jun Shiragi, Chieko Schrader - **Writer:** Paul Schrader, Leonard Schrader, Chieko Schrader - **Novel:** Yukio Mishima - **Cinematography:** John Bailey - **Editor:** Michael Chandler, Tomoyo Ōshima - **Music:** Philip Glass - **Production design:** Eiko Ishioka - **Costume design:** Eiko Ishioka, Etsuko Yagyu - **Producer:** Tom Luddy, Mataichirô Yamamoto - **Cast:** 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; Junya Fukuda as Cadet #2; Yuu Tokui as Cadet #3 - **Runtime:** 2h 01m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 20 September 1985 - **Genres:** Drama - **Budget:** $5 million - **Box office:** $502,758 - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nVKJDSrxNg ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $5.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-16.* Also available in: AT, CA, GB, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Colour of Pomegranates* (1969): Another artist’s biography that trusts staged images to do the explaining. - *Persona* (1966): A fractured portrait whose shifts in form make identity increasingly uncertain. - *An Angel at My Table* (1990), Fi1m 87: A writer’s life told with more everyday warmth and equally precise images. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/an-angel-at-my-table.md) - *The Pillow Book* (1996): Writing, bodies and theatrical images meet in another demanding study of obsession. - *First Reformed* (2017), Fi1m 86: Paul Schrader returns to a solitary man trying to make belief govern action. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/first-reformed.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/mishima-a-life-in-four-chapters