Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters1985

“All my life I have been acutely aware of a contradiction in the very nature of my existence. For forty-five years I struggled to resolve this dilemma by writing plays and novels. The more I wrote, the more I realized mere words were not enough. So I found another form of expression.” “My need to transform reality was an urgent necessity, as important as three meals a day or sleep.” “Men wear masks to make themselves beautiful. But unlike a woman's, a man's determination to become beautiful is always a desire for death.” “Are you still willing to pay the price for something which may accomplish nothing?” *“Here I saw the outcome of my final action in this stillness was a beauty beyond words. No more body or spirit, Pen or sword, male or female.” * It's truly fascinating how Schrader contextualizes both truth and fiction through Mishima's principles by pairing each narrative with events from Mishima's life. This is one of the best-crafted biopics ever made it's highly stylized everything about it is gorgeous, the writing, the cinematography, even the soundtrack. It made me want to know more about Yukio Mishima and read every single book of his.