Mishima: The Last Debate
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- March 20, 2020
| Mishima: The Last Debate | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Keisuke Toyoshima |
| Edited by | Masaki Murakami |
| Distributed by | GAGA |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Mishima: The Last Debate (Japanese: 三島由紀夫vs東大全共闘〜50年目の真実〜, Hepburn: Mishima Yukio vs Tōdai Zenkyōtō: 50 nenme no shinjitsu) is a 2020 Japanese documentary film by Japanese director Keisuke Toyoshima.
The documentary opens with an exploration of Yukio Mishima's life experiences and the New Left in Japan at the time. It then recreates archival footage of Mishima's May 13, 1969, debate with the All-Campus Joint Struggle Committees (Zenkyoto) in Room 900 at the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo. The film also includes follow-up interviews with participants from that era.
Production and release
The documentary primarily draws on footage of the debate filmed by TBS Television at the time. The footage had long been believed lost, but was recently rediscovered and restored, forming the core of Keisuke Toyoshima's film.[1]
Director Keisuke Toyoshima, though interested in the social issues explored in the film, initially felt he couldn't tackle the subject matter because he wasn't part of the student movement generation nor a devoted fan of Mishima's work. However, when producer Tetta Tone approached him, he decided to take on the project. The decisive factor was Tone's desire to make a film from the perspective of a generation unfamiliar with the impact of Mishima's suicide.[2]
The film was distributed theatrically in Japan by Gaga on March 20, 2020.[3] A Blu-ray/DVD edition was released on February 26, 2021.[4]