5/5 Visceral and Poignant! Beautifully Preserved.
  by Neil Kambeaze (Eugene, OR)
"Patriotism", Yukio Mishima's short film from 1960's Japan is the dismal account of the honorable suicide of a Japanese army lieutenant and his wife in the aftermath of a failed military coup. The lieutenant, played by Mishima himself, is a perfect patriot, relinquishing his life and the life of his pretty young wife to avoid killing his co-conspirators in the failed coup. The young couple share a last night of sexual intimacy before carrying out their suicide pact.

This film is a landmark in cinemat. Aside from being a remarkable political film, quite outlandish in concept and execution for a film made in Japan at this time, "Patriotism" is also a sort of an artistic rehearsal for writer/actor/director Yukio Mishima's actual seppuku in November, 1970. Much like the lieutenant in "Patriotism", Mishima was part of a resistance movement protesting political changes in power. He gave a speech on the balcony of the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, and when it failed to inspire a return of power to the emperor, Mishima commited ritual seppuku. In addition to "Patriotism", Mishima had several other films, poems and works of fiction dedicated to the subject of honorable suicide at the time of his actual seppuku.

Mishima's suicide was indirectly responsible for the film retaining such sharp visual clarity in spite of its age. After his death, his widow ordered all copies of the film destroyed. She felt no need to relive her husband's suicide again and again, and kept only one copy of the film sealed in an air-tight tea container. For several decades, the film lingered mostly as a myth, kept alive by copies of copies passed around Arthouse Film circles. Upon Mishima's widow's death in 2005, the mint-condition print of the film was unearthed. Criterion wasted no time wrapping up this gem and packaging it for mass consumption. The Criterion package includes the new, gorgeous transfer of the film, interviews with surviving crew members, and a thin book that contains Mishima's original short story.

I am a big fan of Criterion's bonus features. Whenever appropriate, they include the literary basis for the film in the film's packaging. For "Patriotism" Criterion included the entire text of the original short story. I cannot understate this enough: "Patriotism" the short story is WAY harder to read than the movie is to watch. Watching Yukio Mishima realistically play-act suicide is not as bad as having the experience described in the first person. While the movie is very visceral, it is softened and given meaning by soft classical music and tender cinematography. The short story is brutal and unflinching. I had to take breaks from reading it to let my stomach settle, and I'm the kind of guy who watches films like "Cannibal Holocaust" regularly. It's easily as intense as anything Chuck Palahniuk has written, and predates his nihilist stylings by 30-40 years. If you get this movie, you owe it to yourself to read the short story. It's a unique experience. You can read the text of the short story for free at: [...]

All in all, "Patriotism" is one of the best Criterion treatments of a classic arthouse film yet. The film, the transfer, the special features and the packaging are all top-notch and make "Patriotism" a worthy addition to any DVD library.

4/5 Defining Love and Honor
  by Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
"Patriotism"

Defining Love and Honor

Amos Lassen

"Patriotism", written, directed and starring Japanese great Yukio Mishima has finally been released in a beautiful edition by Criterion. "Patriotism" (Yukoku) was originally made in 1996 and foreshadowed Mishima's suicide with great artistic vision and a good amount of gore. The movie is the embodiment of Mishima's concerns and skepticism about the growing westernization of Japan. A navel officer and his wife commit suicide in the final act of the film which was shot in black and white thereby giving an eloquence that is captivating. The set is minimal therefore making the contrast beautiful and leading up to the graphic and artistic final act.
Mishima viewed his own life as a work of art and by the time he died at age 45, he wrote 40 novels, 18 plays, 20 books of short stories and over 20 collections of essays. He committed suicide on November 25. 1970 by disembowelment and he united his life with his art.
"Patriotism" is based on a short story that Mishima wrote four years before his death. The Criterion edition contains a new digital transfer of the film which is only 27 minutes long. There is also a documentary on the making of the film, a recording of Mishima speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Organization, an interview with Mishima on love and death. Also included is a booklet with the original short story, an essay by Tony Ryans, critic and historian as well as Mishima's notes on the production of the film.
This is the only film that Mishima ever made and there is no dialog. What we get is a written narrative. The film is striking and startling and even today it is still gory and bloody. The ritualized suicide of a dishonored Japanese patriot is dramatically portrayed and intense. The film hits hard even before the suicide as we are led to think about honor and what being alive means. The film left me shaken for quite a while afterwards and it made me wonder how audiences in 1966 reacted if it affected me this way in 2008. Even though I knew what was going to happen and was prepared for it, so I thought, it most definitely unnerved me.


3/5 A startling foreshadowing
  by Ted M. (Pennsylvania, USA)
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.

5/5 Yukio Mishima's foray into the film world is as challenging as you would expect from him....
  by Grigory's Girl (NYC)
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.

5/5 Intense.
  by Mr. Eddie (New York, NY)
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 more 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.