THE HARMONY OF THE LENS AND SWORD

CURATED BY RICHARD WOLSTENCROFT

Yukio Mishima was one of Post-war Japan’s most fascinating writers. He set the vanguard in new Japanese literature with books like Confessions of A Mask, Patriotism and The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. Mishima was part of the loose worldwide fascist avant-garde movement of the 20th century that includes other figures like Marinette, Pound, Celine, Whyndham Lewis, Thierry Maulnier, Pierre Dreau LaRochelle, D’Annunzio and Boyd Rice. Mishima correctly felt the US occupation of Japan was a disgrace, and he personally felt it insulted the name of the Emperor, as well as corrupted the Japanese people with Western Values and Capitalist materialism. Mishima apart from writing books had his own private militia the Shield Society (SS) that trained with the army and performed a symbolic role. The Shield Society was much like the poets army of Byron and D’Annunzio before him. Particularly so when their symbolic role turned into one of action through Mishima concept of the Harmony of the Pen and sword. This concept is taken from Samurai ethics, that said it is not enough to write, or to make films for that matter, but to act, perhaps only once, in a moment of existential grace. You have to act in the real world, and to attempt to make change, to role the dice with consequences. In 1970 Mishima acted by abducting a Japanese general and rallying the troops to see if they would rise up against the US occupation. His attempted coup failed, when he could not be heard correctly during his rallying speech to the assembled troops. After his failed coup, Mishima then committed ritual suicide, leaving a devastating lesson and myth for generations to come. Mishima’s cinema work is assembled here in a world first at MUFF’s 9th Symphony - The Harmony of The Lens and Sword is what we call it. What is missing today is exactly the kind of commitment to political ideas that Mishima once felt and acted on. Perhaps one day, again, we will see a return to such a Harmony…

MISHIMA: A LIFE IN FOUR CHAPTERS (1985)
Directed by Paul Schrader
7pm / Sun 12 Oct / The George
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
An extraordinary biopic which examines Mishima’s life in three distinctive yet entwined narratives: his biography, his literature and his final day as he leads a quartet of his personal militia - the Tatenokai (The Shield Society) - in an attempted coup on November 25th, 1970. Lavishly shot, the film combines vivid realizations of Mishima’s novels with naturalistic depictions of his life and final day of action. Directed by Paul Schrader, the script genius behind Taxi Driver, itself another story of a man driven to extreme measures. Mishima is a must see for those unfamiliar with Mishima’s life, work and philosophy.

AFRAID TO DIE (aka Karakkazyyaro, 1960)
Directed by Yasuzo Masumura
9pm / Tue 14 Oct / Glitch Bar
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Director Masumura studied cinema in Italy under Fellini and Antonioni and was a leading light in Japanese cinema in the sixties. Yukio Mishima stars as Takeo Asahina in this yakuza film from 1960. Amoral doesn’t even begin to describe the tale of crime and revenge that is Afraid To Die, which plays like a Japanese film noir. There are no heroes, no anti-heroes and no easy escapes, instead the film takes a slow and grim look into Asahina’s life as he leaves jail and sinks further into a quagmire of crime. Mishima’s brooding performance - his first in a film - reveals a genuine talent for acting.

PATRIOTISM (aka The Rite of Love and Death aka Yukoku,1966) Directed by Yokio Mishima
7pm / Tue 14 Oct / Glitch Bar
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Mishima’s personal philosophy, and political belief, was in the return of power to the Emperor as a symbolic figurehead for Japan. Mishima adopted the philosophy of the Samurai that combined a balance between physical and aesthetic power, which he mixed with his own fetishistic interest with violent death. This, the only film to be directed by Mishima, is a meditation on the suicide ritual of seppuku and the honorable duty of the military man. Patriotism clearly foreshadows the director’s subsequent actions. Legend has it that the film was banned in Japan after 1970 and that all of the prints were destroyed Strangely, however, soon after his death the film played in a Times Square grindhouse cinema dedicated to Japanese exploitation and action movies.

BLACK LIZARD (aka Kurotokage, 1968)
Directed Kinji Fukasaku
7pm / Tue 14 Oct / Glitch Barr
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Based on a stage play by Mishima and featuring a cameo by the author / actor. The Black Lizard of the title is a female collector of jewels and very special dolls. More campy than the other Mishima movies, Black Lizard is a Japanese sixties cult classic. Don’t miss this classic rare MUFF screening of the hip Black Lizard!