My Week of 7/19 - 7/25

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - 1985 - Paul Schrader


Mishima was a fascinating individual and Schrader finds a way to show key moments in his life as well as his work. Though he may be most well known for the dramatic way in which his life came to an end, Schrader does a great job of filling in the back story. Do to a scene that takes place in a gay bar, Mishima's family decided not to help with the making of the film. In Japan the film has been show on television with the gay bar scene cut and has never been released theatrically or on home video.

Philip Glass's score set a prefect tone throughout. One of the thing that interested me most about the film is that both Francis Coppola and George Lucas are given executive producer credits. Both men also had a hand in producing Kagemusha five years earlier and I only they would have found more projects to support during this time.




In Search of a Midnight Kiss - 2007 - Alex Holdridge

I really wanted to love this movie. Black and White photography and a self contained story are a couple touchstones that have a tendency to get me but, this time it just did not come together. Holdridge is just trying too hard to get the indie romance vibe to work.