Ambitious and artistic - a waking dream.

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is an incredible film. Based on the life of Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's most notorious artists. If you love movies based in reality, this is one you absolutely can not miss. Every aspect of this film comes together perfectly..

Mishima was a walking contradiction. He was a painfully shy boy, who in adulthood, thrived on publicity. He forms his own small military - designing uniforms, going through the rigors of training for battle, marching, etc.. but when given the chance to serve his country, he feigns illness and is sent home. He's a homosexual, but poses for photos to display his masculinity and strives to attract women.

Mishima is probably one of Japan's most well known writers. The movie is broken into four chapters, each weaves together one of his plays with his real life. From childhood to his last days.

He was a charming, brilliant and tragic figure. He muses on his life as art - and he lives in a way that eventually blur the two.

The sets and the cinematography alone are worth the price of admission. In a word - stunning. The soundtrack is beyond comparison.. it's chilling, beautiful and sad - and builds throughout the movie until you think your heart will burst.

It's very difficult to put into words why this movie works so well. It's very "artsy", but the director does it in a way that everything flows together.

The narrative is done by Roy Scheider, in English. However, the acting is in Japanese with subtitles.

If you read any synopsis of the movie, it will tell you Mishima commits suicide at the end, so I don't feel too bad disclosing it. The way he does it is the complete culmination of his attempts to make his life a work of art.

I loved it - and I believe that anyone who enjoys biographical movies will feel the same.