is a 1958 Japanese

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

. It is based on the

Yukio Mishima Kimitake Hiraoka ( , ''Hiraoka Kimitake''; 14 January 192525 November 1970), known by his pen name Yukio Mishima ( , ''Mishima Yukio''), was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Ultranationalism (Japan), ultranationalis ...

novel ''

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion is a novel by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima. It was published in 1956 and translated into English by Ivan Morris in 1959. The novel is loosely based on the burning of the Reliquary (or Golden Pavilion) of Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto by a young ...

''. Ichikawa named ''Conflagration'' as the favourite among his own films.

Plot

Set during and shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Goichi, a young

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

, is interrogated after burning down the Shukaku Pavilion in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. He remains silent throughout the questioning. A flashback occurs with Goichi arriving at the Soen Temple, with a letter of introduction from his deceased father, a monk at the

Kan'ei-ji (also spelled Kan'eiji or Kaneiji) is a Tendai Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Japan, founded in 1625 during the Kan'ei era by Tenkai, in an attempt to emulate the powerful religious center Enryaku-ji, in Kyoto. The main object of worship is .Nihon ...

Temple and trusted friend of the high priest, Tayama Dosen. His father had expressed a sentiment that the Golden Pavilion is the most beautiful thing in the world. While preparing rice, Goichi remembers a past incident in which he is mocked for his stuttering. He also recalls witnessing his mother's adultery as a child. During a visit, Goichi's mother states the wish that he might one day become the head priest at the temple. He doubts her ambitions as he feels he might be drafted into the war. One weekend, during a tourist attraction, Goichi sees a pregnant woman with a visiting American soldier. The woman tries to enter the pavilion, but he pushes the woman down the stairs causing her to miscarry. He confesses the deed to Tayama, who was already aware of it and has paid off the woman. Another flashback occurs with Togari, who has a crippled leg, discussing Goichi's academic decline at the Kotani University and his love for ancient temples. Togari follows Goichi into the monachism and has Ranko, a

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...

, treat his leg. On another night, Goichi spies on Tayama Dosen, who is accompanied with a woman. During a scripture reading, the ''

kōan A ( ; ; zh, c=公案, p=gōng'àn ; ; ) is a narrative, story, dialogue, question, or statement from Chan Buddhism, Chinese Chan Buddhist lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen Buddhism, Buddhist practice in different way ...

'' of Nanquan and the cat is discussed, in which monks from the east and west halls fight over custody of a stray kitten. Nanquan resolves the conflict by beheading the cat. After the reading, Goichi discovers a

pin-up A pin-up model is a model (person), model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour photography, glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures ...

photo of a geisha inside Tayama's study book. He confronts the priest, who rescinds his consideration to have Goichi succeed him. Goichi responds that his stutter disqualifies him from being a monk, but Tayama instead accuses him of being twisted. After Goichi purchases a knife and sedatives, Togari loans Goichi ¥3,000, but Goichi fails to repay it in time. Tayama partially repays the loan. Meanwhile, Goichi remembers his father's funeral and cremation. At the pavilion, a police officer suspects Goichi of his suicidal intentions; later that night, his mother reprimands him for it. Back in his room, Togari scolds Goichi and tells him that Tayama sells access to the pavilion for money, much to Goichi's disagreement. Togari's

ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...

teacher listens on the conversation, and after learning of his previous relationship with Ranko, she smashes a vase of flowers on his floor. Feeling misunderstood, and disillusioned by the monks' secular behavior, Goichi sets fire to the pavilion. Back to the present, the detectives return Goichi to the destroyed remains of the temple. During a transfer to prison, Goichi throws himself from a train.

Cast

Ichikawa Raizō VIII was a Japanese film and kabuki actor. His birth name was ,While the stage names of all kabuki actors have retained traditional order (Surname-Givenname) on Wikipedia, birth names of those born after the Meiji Restoration are in Western order (G ...

as Goichi Mizoguchi *

Tatsuya Nakadai is a Japanese film actor. He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including '' The Human Condition'' trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus '' Harakiri'', '' Samurai Rebellion'' and '' Kwaidan''. Nakada ...

as Togari *

Nakamura Ganjirō II was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse. Lineage Born into a renowned Kabuki acting ...

as Tayama Dosen *

Michiyo Aratama was a Japanese film and stage actress. Biography After graduating from the Takarazuka Music and Dance School, Aratama joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1945. She gave her film debut in 1951, but it was not before 1955 that she left the Takarazuk ...

Tamao Nakamura (born July 12, 1939 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese actress. Her father is kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is k ...

Jun Hamamura was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 1995. Selected filmography * ''Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and Nor ...

Ryosuke Kagawa was a Japanese actor. His son was child actor Sō Shuntarō. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1928 and 1986. His final film role was in the 1986 film ''Dixieland Daimyō'' directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Selected filmography * '' Sto ...

as Priest Zenkai *

Tanie Kitabayashi was a Japanese actress and voice actress. Born Reiko Ando in Tokyo, she began as a stage actress. Kitabayashi was a founding member of the famed Mingei Theatre Company, founded in 1950. Early in her career, she became well known for portrayin ...

as Aki, Goichi's mother * Kinzō Shin

Production

Yoshinobu Nishioka was a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' production designer, art director, Film producer, producer and set decorator from Asuka, Nara, Asuka, Nara Prefecture who won three Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction. Nishioka join ...

served as the film's art director.

Legacy

''Conflagration'' was screened at the

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA, formerly abbreviated as BAM/PFA) are a combined art museum, repertory movie theater, and film archive associated with the University of California, Berkeley. Lawrence Rinder was Director ...

in 1981, at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

in 2015, and at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in 2018.

References

External links