Patriotism: The Criterion Collection (DVD)
APPROX. 27 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1966 - MPA RATING: NR
" The 27-minute short is pared down to the point where its purity becomes quite chilling.
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It´s certainly an unusual film. Perhaps silent Noh plays are more commonplace in Japanese cinema, but I´ve never seen anything like it before. The film occurs entirely on one set, but the frequent use of tight close-ups and occasionally jarring editing keep it from feeling like filmed theater.
Video
The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. This doesn´t appear to have gotten the typical full-blown Criterion restoration treatment, but for a film that was all but destroyed 35 years ago, it still looks remarkably good. There are some instances of debris from the source print, but the slightly rough look actually enhances the feel of this anachronistic silent film.
Audio
The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles are offered to translate the Japanese intertitles.
Extras
The disc includes a Japanese version (27 min) and an English version (29 min) film. However, the only difference between the two is that the intertitles are in different languages. The slightly longer running length is only because the English intertitles take longer to unfurl (they are presented on scrolls).
Criterion has beefed up this short film release with some lengthy extras. "Two Days With Yukio Mishima" is a 2005 documentary (50 min.) produced by Hiroaki Fujii in which the crew of "Patriotism" recount their experience making the film which, as the title suggests, was shot in two days.
"Mishima on Mishima" comes in three sections. Two are short interviews (4-5 min each) recorded in 1966 in which Mishima discusses WW2 (when he first heard about the Emperor´s surrender) and Death (his opinions on seppuku and the samurai code). The third section presents an audio recording of Mishima´s April 18, 1966 speech (49 min.) to the Foreign Correspondents´ Club of Japan in which he discusses his writing career and more. It´s certainly a rare find, but it´s fair to say this one is for Mishima-niacs only. I only listened to a few minutes.
The single disc comes in a cardboard slip case which also includes a booklet with Mishima´s original short story. The booklet kicks off with an introduction by the most esteemed Tony Rayns and lengthy production notes by Mishima. The story itself only takes up about half the booklet.
Film Value
Mishima clearly had an eye for the right shot at the right time, and it´s unfortunate this was his only foray into cinema as a director. It´s equally unfortunate that it´s about such an appalling subject. Perhaps I am simply unable to bridge the cultural gap in this case, but the fetishization of suicide here is too grotesque for me to warm to the film much. Still, it´s pretty damned chilling considering what Mishima did just four years later.
"Patriotism" is designed as a companion piece to "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" which Criterion has also released and which is reviewed here.
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