Mishima’s character in the yakuza film “Afraid to Die“ actually dies in the end.
In “Patriotism,” Mishima famously filmed himself going through the motions of hara-kiri four years before he eventually committed suicide in almost exactly the same manner.
In “HitoKiri,” he plays Tanaka Shinbei. When Shinbei’s sword is found at a high official’s assassination scene, he quickly commits seppuku. Given the actor, that’s hardly a spoiler.
As a still, this is one of the most menacing images I’ve ever seen of Mishima.
The film itself seems to be particularly relevant to Mishima’s concerns in 1969, which is when it was filmed. According to IMDB, the film was released February of 1970*, just months before Mishima’s own late November exit.
Hitokiri translates roughly to “manslayer.” The alternate title of the film, Tenchu!, was a battle-cry, meaning “divine punishment.”
Hitokiri is a cinematic retelling of the tale of The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu. These warriors opposed the shogunate and favored the restoration of the Emperor to power. This role was chosen with artful precision. Not only did Mishima’s character commit suicide, but the Four Hitokiri, like Mishima, were supporters of the Emperor. Mishima’s private army, the Tatenokai, were a spiritual army sworn to “shield” the ideal of the Emperor.
Apparently, Mishima also sang the film’s theme song (!!?!?!). I’m working on that…
Review of Hitokiri on Midnight Eye
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/hitokiri.shtml
Review of Hitokiri on Movie Feast
http://moviefeast.blogspot.com/2008/06/tenchu-hitokiri-1969.html
Review of Hitokiri on Lard Biscuit Enterprises
http://www.lardbiscuit.com/jidaigeki/gosha-tenchu.html
* At least in the USA. I was unable to find a Japanese release date, but it couldn’t have been much sooner if the film was produced in 1969.
h/t the Werwolf Ensemble guys, who told me about this film.
Tags: hitokiri, patriotism, tanaka shinbei, tenchu, The Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu
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Tenchu is an excellent film. Fine performances from some of the best actors of the time, with Shintaro Katsu (“Zatoichi”) in the lead and Tatsuya Nakadai (“Ran”, “The Human Condition”) as his lord. Well worth watching, especially for those that enjoy chanbara or samurai action, and fans of Mishima, who can watch yet another “practice seppuku”. I don’t remember Mishima singing the theme song, but I’ll listen closely next time I see the film.
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As far as I remember, the theme had no vocals, so no one sang the theme song. If anyone had, I’d have gone with Katsu Shintaro, who had an excellent singing voice and sang the theme to his own “Zatoichi” TV series. Of course Ishihara Yujiro, who played Sakamoto Ryoma in this film (and was the brother of Ishihara Shintaro, the governor of Tokyo), also was known for his singing. Nakadai…not so much, although he sings far better than Mifune Toshiro, who did NOT appear in this film. However, I guess all this is moot since every last one of the stars appearing on the cover is dead except for Nakadai (may he live forever!)
By the way, this is one of the best chambara films ever made in my opinion and also one of the most historically accurate to the events. (I found the music cheesy though). It mostly follows one of the Four Hitokiri, Okada Izo (Katsu), with the supporting appearance of his erstwhile rival in Kyoto at the time, Tanaka Shinbei (Mishima). The events surrounding Shinbei’s seppuku are faithfully represented, but the idea that Takechi Hanpeita (Nakadai) was behind the assassination that Shinbei is “set up” for is pure speculation, although a brilliant one. Nakadai’s Takechi is heard to say that “years from now, it will still be a mystery,” or something suggestive like that. And so it is…
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