The story takes place during the end of the Pacific War and the aftermath period and it focuses on Mizoguchi, who is the son of a Buddhist Priest. When his father dies, he’s sent to the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Mizoguchi is physically unattractive and becomes, in some way, jealous of the beautiful Temple that he loves so much.
Cinematography
The temple itself—shot like a jealous lover.
Acting
Shiba's Mizoguchi: all stammering intensity and repressed rage.
Director
Yoichi Takabayashi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Yukio Mishima's 1956 novel, itself inspired by the real 1950 arson of Kinkaku-ji by a schizophrenic monk. Mishima would later commit seppuku after a failed coup—he had a thing for dramatic destruction.
The film was shot at the actual reconstructed Kinkaku-ji; temple officials reportedly nervous about the subject matter. The 1950 arson destroyed the 14th-century original—this version you see is a 1955 replica.
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