The movie《The Biography of Yukio Mishima》Why is it banned in Japan?

The recently released movie - Mishima Yukio's Biography - has been aired. It gained high popularity within a few days of airing, and its name appears frequently on hot searches. As more and more viewers join in,Among its fans, there are a lot of discussions about it, especially the recent topic of why the movie - Mishima Yukio's Biography - was banned in Japan, which everyone wants to know very much.

The film - The Biography of Yukio Mishima - has been unofficially banned in Japan, but the Tokyo Film Festival hopes to premiere the film in the country in the fall of 2024.

Paul Schrader's The Biography of Yukio Mishima - adapted from the life and works of prolific Japanese author Yukio Mishima, has grown in stature in the decades since its release in 1985, became a revered classic.But the film was never released in Japan, which is surprising.According to Schrader, the Tokyo International Film Festival (October 28-November 6, 2024) plans to premiere - Mishima Yukio's biography - in Japan.

“Film festivals want to show it,” Schrader said,“ and there's no legal restriction on them showing it.But right now we are trying to break a lot of unwritten agreements, but breaking unwritten agreements is hard, especially in Japan.”

《Mishima》 was never officially banned from release in Japan, but there was a verbal agreement that “informally” banned the film for all purposes.To understand how this happened, one needs to understand the difficult circumstances under which Schrader filmed Mishima.

Mishima was not just a famous cultural figure, he was also known for his right-wing ideas and reactionary politics.He firmly believed that Japan had strayed away from traditional culture and politics after World War II, falling under Western influence after its defeat and abandoning the sanctity of the emperor.As Schrader portrays in the film, these beliefs are what Mishima is ultimately willing to die for.In 1970, he led four militiamen he personally trained into a Tokyo military base, took the base commander hostage and attempted to inspire garrison soldiers to revolt and overturn Japan's 1947 constitution.After the inevitable failure of his impassioned speech, Mishima carried out his plan to commit seppuku at the garrison.

Schrader filmed the production at Japan's famous Toho Studio - Mishima - who was an icon of the Japanese right wing at the time.

“Conservative right-wingers in Japan are dissatisfied with this, ”Schrader said.“They couldn't accept an American, a foreigner, an enemy of Japan, a conqueror, making a movie about a Japanese nationalist far-right hero.”

As news of Mishima spread, there was considerable right-wing pressure on Toho to abandon the project.Things got so intense ahead of filming that Schrader was forced to wear a protective vest to protect herself, and production was in danger of being shut down just as it began.

“Then one day, I was filming on the Toho set, and producer Tom walked up to me and said to me, ‘It’s okay.We can start making movies,'” Schrader said.“It was the second or third day of shooting and I took off my protective vest.”

Although Schrader remained persona non grata on the Toho set for the remainder of filming, at the time, neither he nor Tom knew what had changed or why Right Wing's planned attack was cancelled.

“A few years later, Tom discovered that Toho and the conservatives had reached an unwritten agreement that if Toho guaranteed that the film would never be released in Japan, the right wing could stop its attack plan.It has not been released in Japan, ” Schrader said.

Nearly 40 years have passed, all the old actors have passed away, and according to Schrader, Mishima himself is now regarded as an "old history" and people no longer view him in the political light they once did.

Although there is no law prohibiting the Tokyo International Film Festival from screening the film, the verbal agreement is not without effect in Japan.According to Schrader, the festival will screen the film only if Mishima's two children do not object.

“ Negotiations are ongoing, ” Schrader said.“It did get a little tricky because he had to get clarity from both kids.”

Schrader said that if Mishima is shown at the festival (October 28 to November 6), he will fly to attend and bring his new film Oh, Canada, which was recently acquired by Kino Lorber《Showing concurrently with the film festival.It's a big commitment for the 78-year-old filmmaker, who will also be deep in pre-production on his next film.That's right, 》 Oh, Canada 《- Schrader, who was hospitalized multiple times before writing what he calls “Posthumous Movie” 》 won't be the filmmaker's last film.

“Well, 《 Oh, Canada 》 was my most recent movie.But this one I'm making might be my real last movie, Schrader joked.”I wrote a play called 《Non Compos Mentis》 about madness, sexual desire, and the crazy things men do because of romanticism and sexual desire.The title comes from the Latin word 'to lose one's mind'.I have the funds, and I want to start filming around Thanksgiving and finish before Christmas.%

That’s all for today on the question of why the movie - The Biography of Yukio Mishima - was banned in Japan.Interested friends are very welcome to follow us. We will bring you more exciting content in the future, so don’t miss it.