Review of Rashomon (1950) by Rafael T — 17 Feb 2011

I went trough my collection last night (it's about 700 titles now!) and find this magnificent piece of movie making...

Many of you know it, or at least have heard of it, is a masterpiece by the legendary japanese director Akira Kurosawa, who is, I think, among the best filmmakers of all times... influencing almost every known director to time.

It was praised by international critics, and was honored with an special honorary award at the academy in 1947, many even say it was a big part in the institution of the best foreign movie category...

Rashomon tells the story about a the raping of a girl and the murder of his husband in the woods. This story is told by 4 different characters testifying at a trial: The bandit, The wife, The dead husband (trough a medium), and a lumberjack (who also is the narrator). Each one unravels a different perspective on the events, wich one is the truth? Still is a mystery... Even the actors kept asking this question to Kurosawa who always stated That finding the truth is not the point of the film, but a multiple approach to reality.

The main lead is played by legendary toshiro mifune, a repeatedly collaborator in Kurosawa's work.

Not only this film was a breaktrough in the plot and story telling, also raised the bar at technical levels in cinematography, editing, and use of light, sound and symbolism. You can find lots of info on that around the web.

Overall, this is a must see for anyone who is interested in cinema arts, a masterpiece, that still lives up to its reputation, and a great lesson both in movie making and humanity.

101/100.