看到很多观众评论，尤其是短评说到，绪形拳（Ken Ogata）的形象不适合扮演三岛由纪夫。
事实上，导演Paul Schrader早就清楚这一点。但是，此片的拍摄受到日本右翼（不希望美国人来执导他们的“英雄”的传记）和三岛由纪夫遗孀（涉及同性恋因素）的反对，原定的人选高仓健（Ken Takakura）因故退出。导演只能将希望降到“找到一个能演的演员”，于是绪形拳成了唯一的不得已的选择，因为他至少有勇气来演此片。
拍摄过程中，剧组也确实受到了日本右翼的威胁。
此片能顺利拍摄完成已经是很难得的事情，绪形拳面对威胁敢于出演三岛的勇气本身至少值得尊敬。
导演在《施拉德谈施拉德》的访谈中亲口提到了此事，而相关英文资料则更为具体丰富。
本人搜集到的相关资料如下：
（1）
凯：有没有过暴力威胁？
保罗·施拉德：拍摄期间受到过威胁，还有谣言说，如果电影在日本上映的话，会有爆炸发生。曾经，我一度以为自己可能会有人身危险，于是有段时间，我在街头拍摄时都会穿件防刺背心。随后，有人向我解释了，外国人和醉汉、婴儿一样，不必真的对自己的行为负责，如果有人被袭击的话，那也只会是帮助我的那些日本人。我们的演职人员都是精挑细选出来，看的不仅是他们的能力，还要看他们的勇气和独立性。
凯：绪形拳的表演很好地抓住了三岛的传记作者所说的那种部分是西方式的魅力。
保罗·施拉德：是，但是选绪形拳来演三岛，有一点很不幸，那就是他不具备三岛的双性特质。绪形拳的形象和个性从很大程度上来说，都属于那种低下层或工人阶级的异性恋男性，尽管他可能也努力了，但仍无法逃脱这样的固定形象。我们找了很长时间，找了很多地方，想找到具有那种性的暧昧感觉的男演员，但就是找不到。
资料来源：《施拉德谈施拉德》，第233页。
（2）
Journalist: So you cast Ken Ogata as Mishima’s character. His performance is great in the movie, but to Japanese people and to me personally, he’s not a Mishima type of guy.
Paul Schrader: No, we knew that at the time. We had originally written this with Ken Takakura in mind because he had been the star of another script I had written called The Yakuza. Ken-san was perfect for this but because of his yakuza films he knew a lot of the right wing and gangster types, and they told him he couldn’t do the movie because there was a lot of pressure against the film in Japan. The right wing didn’t want the film because they didn’t want a representative of the MacArthur constitution making a film about their hero. The widow didn’t want the film because of the homosexuality. Between the two of them, that was a lot of pressure against us. Takakura wouldn’t do it, so we were looking for someone else. We had to choose between someone who looked and felt like Mishima, and someone who could do the acting. We were very aware of exactly that decision. We just felt it was more important to have the actor. At the time many Japanese were upset, but Ogata had a reputation for being quite courageous, particularly in a system that doesn’t encourage courageousness. So with Ballad of Narayama and Vengeance is Mine, he really kind of broke the mold. He had the guts to read the script and say, “I’m going to do it, I don’t care what anyone says.” And the very fact that Ogata had that courage gave the rest of the cast the courage to be in the film.
资料来源：Talks on Mishima
http://www.chopsticksny.com/archives/contents/entertainment/2009/03/1618
（3）
Paul Schrader:
Ken Ogata was a brave and talented actor. He took chances in a system that discouraged risk taking. I had been told that no reputable Japanese actor would star in Mishima because of the controversy surrounding Mishima and the notion of an American filming a story about him. The script had been written with Ken Takakura (who had starred in The Yakuza) in mind, but under pressure from the right wing (which, in Japan, is not a wing but the main building), he had to decline. Ogata read the script, liked the challenge, and accepted it without hesitation or apprehension. His confidence was contagious; it brought other talented actors to the project. With his death, Japanese cinema has lost one of its giants.
资料来源：Ken Ogata: “His confidence was contagious”.
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/733-ken-ogata-his-confidence-was-contagious
（4）Jake Adelstein也曾在博客上提及此事。这位美国记者曾在读卖新闻供职，为揭露日本黑社会头目后藤忠政的罪行立下大功，也曾受到过日本右翼和黑社会的威胁。著有《东京罪恶》一书。
Mr. Schrader told me in March of 2011 that Takakura was one of the most impressive actors he’d ever worked with and that his Kendo (Japanese fencing) ability seemed top-notch. He had once offered Takakura the role of Yukio Mishima, the literary genius turned right wing extremist, in his bio-pic film Mishima and Takakura had seriously considered it. However, in the end for reasons he only obliquely hinted at, he politely declined the role. The film Mishima has never been shown in a film festival in Japan.
资料来源：Some parting words from Yakuza movie icon Takakura Ken on yakuza films, his favourite movies, and acting
http://www.japansubculture.com/yakuza-movie-icon-takakura-ken-talks-to-jsrc-about-yakuza-movies-exclusive/
When I was a student at Sophia University in the 90’s, I taught English to one of the doctor’s who performed the autopsy of Mishima. He told me that his shoulders had three or four deep cuts where his disciple had clearly missed the target: Mishima’s neck. This evening while drinking Otokoyama (男山, Man-Mountain), my favorite sake, with the screenwriter, Mr. Globus and members of the Japan society, was the first time I ever knew that there was more botched in that final act than just the decapitation. In his closing remarks, Mr. Schrader also noted that originally Takakura Ken had been offered the role of Mishima but politely bowed out later saying obliquely and apologetically, “There are certain forces that do not want me to do this film and as part of that subculture, I must decline.”
资料来源：The Hardest Men In Town: Chronicles of Sin, Sex, Violence and 1975 classic gangster film THE YAKUZA
http://www.japansubculture.com/the-hardest-men-in-town-yakuza-chronicles-of-sin-sex-and-violence-japan-society-yakuza-film-festival-day-one-the-yakuza/
