I have seen many comments from the audience, especially the short comment that said that the image of Ken Ogata is not suitable for playing Mishima Yukio.
In fact, director Paul Schrader knew this a long time ago. However, the filming of this film was opposed by the Japanese right (do not want Americans to direct their "hero" biographies) and the widow of Yukio Mishima (involving homosexuality). The original candidate Ken Takakura was chosen for some reason. quit. The director can only lower his hope to "find an actor who can act", so Ogataken becomes the only last resort, because he at least has the courage to act in this film.
During the filming process, the crew was indeed threatened by the Japanese right wing.
It is a rare thing that this film can be filmed smoothly. Ogataken's courage to play Mishima in the face of threats is at least respectable.
The director personally mentioned this in an interview in "Schrader on Schrader", and the relevant English materials are more specific and rich.
The relevant information I collected is as follows:
(1)
Kay: Have there been any threats of violence?
Paul Schrader: He was threatened during filming, and there are rumors that if the film is released in Japan, there will be an explosion. Once, I thought that I might be in personal danger, so for a while, I would wear a puncture-resistant vest when shooting on the street. Later, someone explained to me that foreigners, like drunks and babies, don’t really need to be responsible for their actions. If someone is attacked, it will only be the Japanese who helped me. Our cast members are carefully selected, not only for their abilities, but also for their courage and independence.
Kay: Ogata-ken's performance captures what Mishima’s biographer said is partly Western-style charm.
Paul Schrader: Yes, but choosing Ogata Quan to play Mishima is unfortunate , that is, he does not possess the androgynous qualities of Mishima. To a large extent, the image and personality of Xuxingquan belong to that kind of low-class or working-class heterosexual men. Although he may have worked hard, he still cannot escape such a fixed image. We have searched for a long time, in many places, trying to find an actor with that sexual ambiguity, but we just couldn't find it.
Source: "Schrader on Schrader", page 233.
(2)
Journalist: So you cast Ken Ogata as Mishima's character. His performance is great in the movie, but to Japanese people and to me personally, he's not a Mishima type of guy.
Paul Schrader: No, we knew that at the time. We had originally written this with Ken Takakura in mind because he had been the star of another script I had written called The Yakuza. Ken-san was perfect for this but because of his yakuza films he knew a lot of the right wing and gangster types, and they told him he couldn't do the movie because there was a lot of pressure against the film in Japan. The right wing didn't want the film because they didn' t want a representative of the MacArthur constitution making a film about their hero. The widow didn't want the film because of the homosexuality.Between the two of them, that was a lot of pressure against us. Takakura wouldn't do it, so we were looking for someone else. We had to choose between someone who looked and felt like Mishima, and someone who could do the acting . We were very aware of exactly that decision. We just felt it was more important to have the actor. At the time many Japanese were upset, but Ogata had a reputation for being quite courageous, particularly in a system that doesn't encourage courageousness . So with Ballad of Narayama and Vengeance is Mine, he really kind of broke the mold. He had the guts to read the script and say, “I'm going to do it, I don't care what anyone says.” And the very fact that Ogata had that courage gave the rest of the cast the courage to be in the film.
Source: Talks on Mishima
http://www.chopsticksny.com/archives/contents/entertainment/2009/03/1618
(3)
Paul Schrader:
Ken Ogata was a brave and talented actor. He took chances in a system that discouraged risk taking. I had been told that no reputable Japanese actor would star in Mishima because of the controversy surrounding Mishima and the notion of an American filming a story about him . The script had been written with Ken Takakura (who had starred in The Yakuza) in mind, but under pressure from the right wing (which, in Japan, is not a wing but the main building), he had to decline. Ogata read the script, liked the challenge, and accepted it without hesitation or apprehension. His confidence was contagious ; it brought other talented actors to the project. With his death, Japanese cinema has lost one of its giants.
Source: Ken Ogata: “His confidence was contagious”.
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/733-ken-ogata-his-confidence-was-contagious
(4) Jake Adelstein also mentioned this on his blog. This American journalist once worked for the Yomiuri Shimbun and made great contributions to exposing the crimes of the Japanese underworld leader Tadoma Goto. He has also been threatened by the Japanese right-wing and underworld. Author of "Tokyo Sin".
Mr. Schrader told me in March of 2011 that Takakura was one of the most impressive actors he'd ever worked with and that his Kendo (Japanese fencing) ability seemed top-notch. He had once offered Takakura the role of Yukio Mishima , the literary genius turned right wing extremist, in his bio-pic film Mishima and Takakura had seriously considered it. However, in the end for reasons he only obliquely hinted at, he politely declined the role. The film Mishima has never been shown in a film festival in Japan.
Source: Some parting words from Yakuza movie icon Takakura Ken on yakuza films, his favourite movies, and acting
http://www.japansubculture.com/yakuza-movie-icon-takakura-ken-talks-to-jsrc-about-yakuza-movies-exclusive/
When I was a student at Sophia University in the 90's, I taught English to one of the doctor's who performed the autopsy of Mishima. He told me that his shoulders had three or four deep cuts where his disciple had clearly missed the target: Mishima's neck . This evening while drinking Otokoyama (男山, Man-Mountain) , my favorite sake, with the screenwriter, Mr. Globus and members of the Japan society, was the first time I ever knew that there was more botched in that final act than just the decapitation. In his closing remarks, Mr. Schrader also noted that originally Takakura Ken had been offered the role of Mishima but politely bowed out later saying obliquely and apologetically, “There are certain forces that do not want me to do this film and as part of that subculture, I must decline."
Source: The Hardest Men In Town: Chronicles of Sin, Sex, Violence and 1975 classic gangster film THE YAKUZA
http://www.japansubculture.com/the-hardest-men-in-town-yakuza-chronicles-of-sin-sex-and-violence-japan-society-yakuza-film-festival-day-one-the- yakuza/
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