Customer Rating:  
Summary: A startling foreshadowing
Comment: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film
Patriotism, released as Yukoku in Japan, is film written and directed by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.
The film depicts the seppuku, or ritual suicide, of an army officer that foreshadows the real life seppuku of Mishima a decade later.
All prints of the film were destroyed at the request of Mishima's widow, but the original camera negative was saved. This release is quite impressive as it is a film that quite possible would never have seen the light of day again, if not for the only existing copy being saved.
This edition contains both the English and Japanese intertitled versions, plus a documentary on the film's production, and interviews with Yukio Mishima.
This is a must-buy film for those interested in Japanese literature and film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wholehearted sincerity
Comment: Written, directed, and starring novelist/playwright Yukio Mishima, this short film has a real expressive power. It embodies his concerns and skepticism about Japan's growing westernization. Plus it foreshadows things to come.
A naval officer, along with his wife, commits the Japanese suicide ritual of seppuku in a final act of patriotism.
Filmed in black and white, it harnesses a supremely captivating elegance. It is shot on a minimalist set, and the contrast presented is truly beautiful. The fatal act is quite graphic and artistic.
This disc includes an interview with Yukio. He declares "I pray for a death for the sake of something." A powerful statement.
An amazing piece of work. Plus a perfect companion film to the Criterion release Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Yukio Mishima's foray into the film world is as challenging as you would expect from him....
Comment: Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's greatest writers and artists, made only one film, Patriotism, and our good friends at Criterion have released it in this very reasonably priced edition. The film is only 27 minutes long, and has no dialogue (though it has "written" narration). It's really a striking piece of work, and quite startling at times. It is also very gory and bloody, and can even make today's gorehounds grimace. I think the violence and blood in this film are much more effective is because they actually mean something, as opposed to many films today who seem to push the uncomfortable gore quotient with no reasoning or rhyming behind it. Yukio Mishima was an incredibly prolific, intense, brilliant, convulted, complex, and artistic individual, a man of many faces, masks, illusions, and realities, and this DVD is an absolute must for any of his fans. If you're not a Mishima fan, you should still rent/buy this disc, as you may become one. The film deals with many Mishima themes, that of patriotism, loyalty, the code of the Samurai, loyalty, modern vs. feudal Japan, etc., and the film is really quite good. It's staged on a Noh stage, which gives it a very distinct feel. If it was done in a realistic manner, it would have been immensely boring, but Mishima makes good choices by filming it in this manner.
Granted, this film is not the greatest of Mishima's artistic output (that is his Sea of Fertility tetraology), but it's still absolutely fascinating and holds up quite well today. The music in the film is a bit overdone, but as the film progresses, one adjusts and it becomes less intrusive. The DVD also includes snippets of Mishima interviews, and it's absolutely brilliant stuff. Where many "artists/writers" give interviews today and say very little, Mishima encompasses worlds in the few words he says. His talk about death, heroism, heroic deaths, politics, etc., etc. are very provocative and still valid today. He certainly wasn't shy about expressing his opinions, but as many people shout to express their opinions, Mishima's opinions are ones that mattre and really make one think on a deeper level. There is also a 45 minute documentary on the making of Patriotism, with the original crew and producer assembled. They reminisce about the making of the film (which only took 2 days to film), and how Mishima was pretty well organised for a first time director. It's a very good companion piece to the film. This is a great DVD for any Mishima fan, and for any fan of Japanese and world cinema.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Intense.
Comment: If you are a Mishima fan, of which I would say I am an on-again off-again kind of guy, this is an incredible film to see. Even if you aren't, "Patriotism" is one of the most beautiful and compelling depictions of violence put to screen.
Obviously, if you know anything about Yukio Mishima's life that will color your viewing of "Patriotism." But I think it is important to see this as a film from 1966 and encapsulating the fetishistic mindset of a monomaniacal artist and his lifelong obsession. I personally have always found Mishima's writing to be the very definition of tedious, but at the same time compelling in its attention to detail. This film is similar in that it isolates its narrative and savors each moment of its dramatic development. But even more, I do think that Mishima tapped into some of the deepest emotions of Japanese tragedy and "Patriotism" is a very powerful film for it.
Criterion has released this disc more or less in conjunction with their reissue of Paul Schrader's biopic "Mishima". Nothing could make me happier as I intensely dislike that cloying film. It is a cafe-culture charade which apes this work at every step and fails miserably. Yukio Mishima was in his own way a purist and that comes through in this short film. He might have wound up being a better filmmaker than writer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love and Honor
Comment: On February 26, 1936, a day noted for the thick snow that had fallen, a group of some 1400 soldiers, primarily from the Imperial Japanese Army's First Infantry Division, led by a group of junior army officers influenced by the radical philosopher Kita Ikki, whose philosophy evolved from a socialist to a pro-fascist perspective, attacked prominent members of the Japanese government and even killed a number of them, including Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal Saito Makoto. Attempts were also made on the lives of other prominent political figures such as the Japanese Prime Minister Okada Keisuke. The instigators of the Ni-niroku jiken (the February 26th Incident) wanted to eliminate corrupt politicians and to truly put Emperor Hirohito as the center of the nation in order to purify the corruption in its various branches. The uprising received a bit of support when it occurred, but many, including the Emperor himself, saw it as nothing more than an uprising. The event petered out by February 29th and a number of the young officers were executed.
It is this historical backdrop that forms the setting for Mishima Yukio's first and only film that the prominent novelist directed: Yukoku (Patriotism). Lt. Takeyama Shinji, a member of the same group that initiated the February 26th Incident, was not involved in the siege because, unlike most of his compatriots, he is married and his love for his young wife Reiko knows no bounds. However, when he learns that he is to attack his fellows, Takeyama is caught between his loyalty to his fellow young officers and the Emperor. Instead of betraying either, he decides to commit hara-kiri (seppuku, ritual suicide by slitting the belly open), and is overjoyed when he learns that Reiko will follow him into death. What follows is an intense and sensual lovemaking scene and then a gruesome, albeit sensual, depiction of hara-kiri. A scene that will remain in the viewers mind long after the film comes to an end.
Unlike many of his other works which Mishima allowed directors to make filmic adaptations of, the noted novelist, short story writer, playwright, and body builder was reluctant to allow another man to bring Patriotism to the big screen. Instead, he went to producer Fujii Hiroaki who wholeheartedly supported Mishima's desire to direct the film. Instead of using a normal set depicting the shabby home of a low ranking officer, Mishima worked with Noh master Domoto Masaki to create a set that looked like the stage for Noh theatre, including the raised platform and three pine trees covered in cotton snow. The stark whiteness of the set represents the purity within the hearts of Takeyama and his wife Reiko and the purity of the act that they commit.
Mainly intended for a foreign audience, the film was first shown in France and Mishima created scrollwork for the intertitles of the film in English, France, and German, Patriotism was to make Mishima a renowned man around the world. The film did quite well, but after Mishima's suicide in 1970, he committed hara-kiri, legit copies of the film were locked away in a tea cabinet by Mishima's widow, Yoko. But after her death, the film resurfaced and world film audiences can now see this beautifully gory and tragic film by one of Japan's most prominent postwar writers.
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