Gateway to greatness

Rashomon is a film that deserves its billing as a ‘classic’ and is amongst the very best films that I have seen. It pre-dates ‘Waiting for Godot’ and the work of Samuel Beckett by two years but has much of the ‘theatre of the absurd’ feel about it – but stems from a completely different milieu. It is totally absorbing, completely fascinating and sets off all sorts of questions whilst being perfectly put together. One reads afterwards about the allegories, symbols and use of light and darkness metaphors – but these are simply woven into the plot and the mis en scene in a way that make the film and effortless pleasure. Ranks amongst the work of Beckett and Hiroshima Mon Amour as lifting the curtain on the beauty that can become the artistic product of ‘existentialism.’ Highly, highly recommended.