- 11.25 JIKETSU NO HI, MISHIMA YUKIO TO WAKAMONOTACHI: " TRAILER" (VOSTEN) - " TRAILER" (VOSTFR) -
Un Certain Regard " 11.25 JIKETSU NO HI, MISHIMA YUKIO TO WAKAMONOTACHI " (11/25 THE DAY MISHIMA CHOSE HIS OWN FATE / 25 NOVEMBRE 1970, LE JOUR OU MISHIMA A CHOISI SON DESTIN ) Directed by: Koji WAKAMATSU Country: JAPAN Year: 2011 Duration: 120.00 minutes Credits: Koji WAKAMATSU - Director Koji WAKAMATSU - Screenplay Masayuki KAKEGAWA - Screenplay Tomohiko TSUJI - Cinematography Fumio ITABASHI - Music Kumiko SAKAMOTO - Film Editor Noriyoshi YOSHIDA - Sound Actors: Arata IURA Shinnosuke MITSUSHIMA Shinobu TERAJIMA Synopsis: "If we value so highly the dignity of life, how can we not also value the dignity of death No death may be called futile." - Yukio Mishima On November 25th 1970, a man committed ritual suicide inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defence, leaving behind a legacy of masterpieces and a controversy that echoes to this day. The man was Yukio Mishima, one of Japan’s greatest and most celebrated novelists. With four members of his own private army - the Tatenokai - Mishima had taken the commandant hostage and called upon the assembled military outside the Ministry to overthrow their society and restore the powers of the Emperor. When the soldiers mocked and jeered Mishima, he cut short his speech and withdrew to the commandant’s office where he committed seppuku - the samurai warrior's death - tearing open his belly with a ceremonial knife before being beheaded by one of his colleagues. What was Mishima truly trying to express through his actions? And what did he witness during his final moments? *** « Si nous estimons qu’il est si important de vivre avec dignité, comment ne pas accorder la même valeur à la mort ? Aucune mort n’est jamais futile. » Yukio Mishima Le 25 novembre 1970, un homme s’est donné la mort dans le quartier général du commandement de l’armée japonaise à Tokyo. Il laissait derrière lui une longue liste de chef-d’œuvres littéraires et une controverse qui ne s’est jamais éteinte. Cet homme s’appelait Yukio Mishima, un des romanciers les plus célèbres et les plus respectés du Japon. Avec quatre membres de son armée personnelle, la Tatenokai, Mishima avait pris en otage le commandant du quartier général. S’adressant aux soldats rassemblés dans la cour, il leur demanda de l’aider pour renverser le régime et restaurer le pouvoir de l’Empereur. Lorsque les soldats commencèrent à se moquer de lui, il interrompit son discours et se retira dans le bureau du commandant pour commettre le seppuku, le suicide rituel du samouraï, en s’ouvrant le ventre avant d’être décapité par un de ses hommes. Que voulait exprimer Mishima à travers ses derniers actes ? Qu’a-t-il vu avant de mourir ? © Copyright Wild Bunch 2012. Copyright (C) 2011 WAKAMATSU PROD UCTION Al l Right s Reserved. DIRECTOR’S INTENTION NOTE The 1960s saw an international surge of protest against the 1951 Japan-US Security Treaty. Student activism for social change in Japan was also gathering momentum, and gaining widespread support from farmers and laborers. Conservative students also mobilized themselves to oppose their leftwing counterparts. It was from the ranks of these latter activists that Mishima formed his private militia - the Tatenokai (Shield Society). Who were the Tatenokai really fighting? And what was the meaning of Mishima’s extraordinary final gesture? In this film, I decided to focus on the opposite side of 1960s to the one I explored in United Red Army. Both Mishima and the left wing radicals were struggling to alter Japan for the better; time has allowed us to see that in our society nothing changed. What were they fighting for? Who was the real enemy? Why did Mishima decide to end his life as he did? How should humans live and die? And why? Questions raise further questions - it never ends. This is why I had to make this film. - Koji Wakamatsu 2012