film to his "Great Movies" list, calling the film "a triumph of concise writing and construction. The unconventional structure of the film ... unfolds with perfect clarity, the logic revealing itself." Chris Peachment of Time Out Film Guide said, "Schrader may have finally achieved the violent transfiguration that he seeks along with his protagonists; the film has all the ritual sharpness and beauty of that final sword. ... There is nothing quite like it." Awards The film premiered at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 1985, where it won the award for Best Artistic Contribution. Home media Mishima has been released three times on DVD in the US, two of which by The Criterion Collection who also produced its Blu-ray release. The 2001 Warner Bros. release included a behind-the-scenes documentary, an audio commentary by Paul Schrader and a deleted scene. This edition did not, like the theatrical version, feature the narration of Roy Scheider but of an uncredited actor. The 2008 Criterion Collection release offered both English narrations by Roy Scheider and (according to Paul Schrader) Paul Jasmin from the 2001 release. Also, it featured new audio commentaries, video interviews with the film makers and experts on the writings of Mishima, plus The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima, a BBC documentary about the author. The 2018 Criterion Collection re-release on both DVD and Blu-Ray offered a new, restored 4K digital transfer of the director's cut, supervised and approved by director Paul Schrader and cinematographer John Bailey, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Existing features from the 2008 Criterion release were carried over with the addition of a new booklet featuring an essay by critic Kevin Jackson, a piece on the film's censorship in Japan, and photographs of Ishioka's sets. A French DVD was released by Wild Side Video in 2010 titled Mishima – une vie en quatre chapitres in Japanese, English and French language with French subtitles. A Spanish Blu-ray Disc was released in 2010 titled Mishima – Una Vida en Cuatro Capítulos. It features Scheider's narration with optional Spanish and Catalan, but no English, subtitles. See also 11:25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate, a 2012 Japanese film by Kōji Wakamatsu about Mishima's last months and death. References External links Mishima: Pen and Sword an essay by Kevin Jackson at the Criterion Collection 1985 films American biographical drama films American LGBT-related films 1985 drama films