Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Mishima A Life in Four Chapters is a 1985 AmericanJapanese film cowritten and directed by Paul Schrader. The film is based on the life and work of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, interweaving episodes from his life with dramatizations of segments from his books The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyokos House, and Runaway Horses. It was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.

In flashbacks highlighting episodes from his past life, the viewer sees Mishimas progression from a sickly young boy to one of Japans most acclaimed writers of the postwar era who keeps himself in perfect physical shape, owed to a narcissistic body cult. His loathing for the materialism of modern Japan has him turn towards an extremist traditionalism. He sets up his own private army and proclaims the reinstating of the emperor as head of state.The biographical sections are interwoven with short dramatizations of three of Mishimas novels In The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, a stuttering aspirant sets fire to the famous Zen Buddhist temple because he feels inferior at the sight of its beauty. Kyokos House depicts the sadomasochistic and ultimately fatal relationship between an elderly woman and her young lover, who is in her financial debt. In Runaway Horses, a group of young fanatic nationalists fails to overthrow the government, with its leader subsequently committing suicide. Frame story, flashbacks and dramatizations are segmented into the four chapters of the films title, named Beauty, Art, Action, and Harmony of Pen and Sword. ........

Source: Wikipedia