Rashomon (1950)

Rashomon is generally considered to be one of master Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's best films, and for good reason. Movies are not made like this anymore, and it is really disheartening that even in the independent and art house loops there is a general lack of films with a solid story and a strong acting. It won't be gimmicks and glitter that will make filmmakers legends; it is their ability to tell a story in which a normal person is put into an abnormal situation or an abnormal person is put into a normal setting, and is told with honesty and realism. Kurosawa knew that, and that is why his stories are as accessible now as a Shakespearean play.

The movie follows a basic premise of court hearing on the rape of a woman and the killing of her samurai husband. The plot quickly becomes tangled when we hear four different accounts of the events leading to three confessions and a fourth accusation. The first comes from the bandit himself, played by one of Kurosawa's muses, Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo), who claimed it was an honorable fight to the death. The second, from the raped woman who said she killed her husband from the shame caused by her having slept with two men. The third came from the dead man himself who, through the mouth of a medium, said he killed himself after being disgraced by his hateful wife. The fourth accusation came from the man who had stumbled across the dead body and reported it to the police, and said it was a cowardly struggle for survival by the two men.

All of the stories follow wildly varying accounts and leave it open to the audience member to decide for himself who the real culprit was. Each story has its merits, and each story teller has a reason to be distrusted. Even if you don't choose to decide who did what it is still an incredible movie to watch filled with tremendous acting from the ensemble, and a really good script. I mentioned Shakespeare earlier, and I think that that was a very fair comparison. Kurosawa knew the human condition like Shakespeare did, and he gave us a story in which challenges to the characters' honor compromised their testimonies as it skewed their judgement. Kurosawa liked dissecting in his movies what it meant to be honorable, and this is as good a portrait of that as I have seen.

I recommend this movie very highly. Awesome entertainment.

4/4