Can a biopic be transcendental in to a philosophical artistic ritual? It is possible in “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” because of the man Mishima himself and his works of theatrics and his inclination into the bushido code. The film directed by Paul Schrader is an honour and dedication to the author whose life work of writing is incorporated in dictating his maturity in growth both physically and mentally. It is a challenging film as it should be and is visually vibrant.I have not heard about Mishima until I saw the film. It is mostly in Japanese which pertains to the nationality and native tongue of the character with a narration from Roy Schneider as the English voice of Mishima. The narrations are elemental to the film as it is a meditation of Mishima’s philosophies and his continuous contemplation on life, art, death and action. The film is systematically organized into four chapters and three of those combines the last few hours of Mishima with most of the each chapter comprising of his published book. The last chapter becomes his last mission.
This is tough film as it cross cuts into different periods and fundamentally into his books. Thus it takes a while to understand the surroundings. Schrader uses closed sets to represent a theatrical visualization and some flagrant colour codes to inform us. The production sets is a treat on collaborating the Japanese traditional decorations along with some contemporary styles. But the film is one man’s inner voice consistently analyzing and decoding the life’s formulation and the understanding of art and sword. The final episode thus aptly titled as “Harmony of Pen and Sword”.
How beautifully Mishima made his individual parts of traits into a character in the enacted book of his? The grown up Mishima is played by Ken Ogata, one of the powerful performances which blend in the leadership and influencing skills of a complex person along with a maturing personality all the way from his childhood. The question of his suicide which depicts the ritual of seppuku is the code of samurai and the film circulates on the trance epicenter of his mind on death as the mixture of art and action as it is put.
The film becomes a pure art form in the chapter wise presentation. In each of those it takes a subject, recreates a book and along with it the growth from a small boy to a man towards a military officer. “Beauty”, “Art” and “Action” are the matter of concentration which is dealt in the first three chapters. Not only does each chapter carry the aesthetic sense but it matures itself from vignette to vignette. Each associated book becomes a symbolic representation of Mishima’s life.
Schrader gives Mishima in complete objectivity one of the very rare properties in a biopic. I guess it is the strict rigour code of samurai itself. The bushido code as per my minimal understanding originates from the end, death. They fancy or visualize the ultimate end in a meditative form which is not suicidal but a perennial practice of peace and calm. This concept which of course looks enigmatic was surprisingly and shockingly followed with a finesse art. While this existence of philosophy was made a reasonably accepted and practiced term in the old Japanese culture, the modern era which marked its beginning of end is where Mishima stands. This code which is rarely mentioned openly plays as a subtle characteristic in the screenplay. The code which of course forms the basis of Mishima’s pursuit of life’s meaning is never said in a tone of preaching.
This film got to be watched couple of times and it is not easy to watch it once. It appeals and my guess would be its philosophical maturity with every viewing. Schrader gives a man and his mind rather than a series of events. A great man is represented by his belief, value and his adherence to it. Mishima wrote lot of books and his quest in finding a true meaning towards a destiny of death in the form of words and blood is philosophical suicide. He at any moment was not confused. His books became an outlet for his inner voice and its stages of manhood. I enjoyed this film and with multiple viewing I am sure would love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment