Patriotism (film)
Encyclopedia
is a 1966
Japan
ese short drama film
directed by Yukio Mishima
and Domoto Masaki. The English-language release was originally entitled The Rite of Love and Death.
Mishima wrote Yûkoku four years before his death. The book reflected many of Mishima's warlike instincts as it follows the story of the young Japanese army lieutenant Shinji Takeyama (played by Mishima) and his new wife, Reiko (played by Yoshiko Tsuruoka). Mishima's fascination with death and the samurai
also come into the book when the lieutenant commits seppuku
, the Japanese ritual suicide. The book was a tribute to the emperor and the Ni Ni Roku incident. Patriotism is an example of Mishima's thematic treatment of death, violence and politics.
After Mishima's suicide, his widow, Yoko, suppressed the film. However, the original negative was found in 2005 and it was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection
in 2008.
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese short drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
and Domoto Masaki. The English-language release was originally entitled The Rite of Love and Death.
Mishima wrote Yûkoku four years before his death. The book reflected many of Mishima's warlike instincts as it follows the story of the young Japanese army lieutenant Shinji Takeyama (played by Mishima) and his new wife, Reiko (played by Yoshiko Tsuruoka). Mishima's fascination with death and the samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
also come into the book when the lieutenant commits seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
, the Japanese ritual suicide. The book was a tribute to the emperor and the Ni Ni Roku incident. Patriotism is an example of Mishima's thematic treatment of death, violence and politics.
After Mishima's suicide, his widow, Yoko, suppressed the film. However, the original negative was found in 2005 and it was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
in 2008.
External links
- The complete film, with English titles
- Tom Mes, Midnight Eye review retrieved 12 Aug 2010.
- Ed Howard, Only the Cinema blog review retrieved 12 Aug 2010.
- {http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1966/patriotism Jason Morgan, AMC film critic] review retrieved 12 Aug 2010.
- Jamie S. Rich, Criterion Confessions blog review retrieved 12 Aug 2010.