Saturday, July 19, 2008
netflixed
I've never read Mishima, and have only a general knowledge of his bio and philosophy. Paul Schrader's film blew me socks off; it's easily the best film about the Samurai worldview I've seen since Ghost Dog. Philip Glass scored Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. I love Philip Glass but the RZA's soundtrack to Ghost Dog is hard to beat.
Schrader gets at Mishima through biographical vignettes which are woven into segments from his stories, plays, and films. The culminating moment of the film is of course obvious if you know anything about his life at all. It's pretty powerfully handled here.
Love the vivid color and the black and white sequences; love the set design, which is magnificent. The acting too. Criterion Collection strikes again.
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One of Tien's favorite authors, so thanks for the tip--I forgot there was a film!
Yeah, Criterion is amazing. They're gonna start out putting Blue-Ray discs in Oct., but the cool thing is they won't cost anymore than their regular DVDs. Plus maybe the regular editions will get cheaper or will show up used. (for those of us that can't afford gazillion $$ HD plasma pleasure screens)
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