Mishima, previously For Those We Love/Yamato

[Mark Nornes]

Schrader recently showed the restored print of Mishima at the Harvard  
Film Archive. (The restoration amounted to including a scene he had  
shot with Chishu Ryu as the go-playing head priest of Kinkakuji.)  
After the film, he talked about the process of writing the script. How  
the Emi sets had a huge impact on the approach to overall visual  
design. Various problems with Mrs. Mishima, who quickly soured on the  
project because she wanted to elide his sexual life.

The best story had to do with a big bag of money that fulfilled a  
certain studio's contractual obligations while maintaining their  
ability to plausibly say they had nothing to do with the production. I  
believe Schrader tells this story on the extra audio on the Criterion  
disk.

Markus









On Jul 16, 2009, at 7:29 PM, Martin Stoklossa wrote:

> Having just recently watched Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters, I was  
> interested in its production history, too. A quick search of the web  
> led to the following results:
> There is a radio interview by Leonard Lopate with Paul Schrader to  
> be found on this website http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2008/12/16/segments/118438 
>  as an audiostream, in which Schrader talks about the film and the  
> problems he faced with Mishimas wife. Here Schrader states (in 2008)  
> that the film was never distributed in Japan.
> You can find a written interview with Schrader by Peter Sobczynski,  
> in which he talks about these issues as well, here: http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=2515
> I have not read it, because I have no access to it, but you might be  
> interested in another interview to be found in 1986s Film Quarterly  
> (Jaehne, Karen: “Schrader’s Mishima: An Interview.” Film Quarterly  
> 39.3 (Spring 1986): p. 11–17).
> However, all of these will reflect Schrader's point of view, so I do  
> not know how helpful that would be in regards to your interest in  
> the film's reception in Japan.
>
> Best regards,
> Martin Stoklossa
>
>
> Roger Macy schrieb:
>> I've just seen the film again tonight at the ICA.
>> There were certainly scenes of (1) Mishima dancing with a man in a  
>> gay bar and (2) Mishima meeting this man later after midnight, in  
>> the clear context of a lovers' tiff.
>> I can't see that Mishima's widow was in a position to 'forbid'. The  
>> executor of Mishima's estate is acknowledged, who was not a  
>> Mishima. I'm pretty sure there was no mention in the credits of  
>> Mishima's family. And the credits ended with something like 'We  
>> acknowledge that Mishima Yukio was a real person, but all events in  
>> this film are fictional ...'.
>> Perhaps, though, these legal exclusions would not have been so  
>> watertight in Japan ?
>> Roger
>>
>>    ----- Original Message -----
>>    *From:* Edel Quinn <mailto:delquinn at gmail.com>
>>    *To:* KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>>    <mailto:KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
>>    *Sent:* Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:32 PM
>>    *Subject:* Re: For Those We Love/Yamato
>>
>>    Hi Edan,
>>
>>    Many thanks for all your help. Indeed Mishima's wife made things
>>    very difficult for Schrader, amongst other stipulations, she
>>    forbade him not to deal explicitly with his death or at all with
>>    his homosexuality. I have also read that Mishima's family were
>>    instrumental in ensuring the film never got an official release in
>>    Japan.
>>
>>    I'd be most grateful for a scan of that interview if it's not too
>>    much hassle.
>>
>>    Kind regards, Edel Q
>>
>>
>>>
>>>    I know Schrader's film was well-known enough for him to have been
>>>    interviewed in The Japan Times in around April or May of 1984 -
>>>    when he was in the middle of shooting it in Japan.
>>>    He was insistent that the film was NOT going to be the
>>>    quintessential Mishima biopic - it was just his personal reaction
>>>    to the author. I think he even said something to the effect that
>>>    Mishima could have been from any country and he would have made
>>>    it - ie. Japan had little to do with the story. And, if my memory
>>>    serves me correctly, I think he also intimated that he was
>>>    disappointed in Mishima's widow for not approving of the film...
>>>    I think that was the main issue surrounding the film when it came
>>>    out, too.
>>>
>>>    I came across the interview in researching our "from the archive"
>>>    series - it was exactly 25yrs ago a few months back. I think I
>>>    still have a copy at the office (I ended up using a different
>>>    article for our series that month) so I could probably scan and
>>>    send it if you'd like. And if you can wait till next year then
>>>    1985 will be 25 years past and I will probably come across more
>>>    articles that came out around the film's release.
>>>
>>>    Mark Schilling reviews of the other two films you mentioned are  
>>> here:
>>>    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20070525a3.html
>>>    http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20051223a3.html
>>>
>>>    Edan Corkill
>>>    The Japan Times
>>>
>>>
>>>    2009/7/16 Edel Quinn <delquinn at gmail.com <mailto:delquinn at gmail.com 
>>> >>
>>>
>>>        Hi all,
>>>
>>>        Does anybody know of any good English articles on Shinjo's
>>>        /For Those We Love/ (Ore wa, kimi no tame ni koso shini ni
>>>        iku, 2007 ) and/or Sato's /Yamato/ (Otoko-tachi no Yamato,
>>>        2005 ).
>>>
>>>        Also does anyone know anything about the Japanese reception
>>>        of Paul Scrader's /Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters/, 1985?
>>>
>>>        Many thanks , Edel Quinn
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>