It was in late 1970 that I first became aware of Yukio Mishima. There was a shocking spread in a photo-news magazine (Life or Look, I don't remember which) that showed him, wearing a military uniform and a headband emblazoned with the traditional red rising sun, on a balcony, fist outstretched, addressing a crowd below him. According to the article, he and his associates had taken over a government building and were loudly advocating a return to the old (samurai) ways. He was booed by the crowd. Going back inside, he promptly committed seppuku. A companion (a man who, I have since learned, was his lover) decapitated him before himself committing suicide. Being a kid, I found all of this mind-boggling. Years later, I sought out his books and read them (including THE PATRIOT, which reads for the most part like a dress rehearsal for his own death). Coming across AFRAID TO DIE, I felt compelled to rent it. Mishima, whose actions proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn't afraid to die, wasn't (based on just what I've seen here) a very charismatic actor. In fact, there are scenes where he looks downright amateurish just trying to throw down a shot of booze on camera- and the scene at the end where he's trying to walk back down an escalator that's going up is so bad it's hilarious. I know for a fact that Mishima was a great writer. I know for a fact, too, that his acting debut was something less than stellar. (AFRAID TO DIE is a very well crafted movie, make no mistake about it, but it's also very slow. Mishima's performance doesn't help.)
Review of Afraid to Die
