Rashomon details
| Format: | 12 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Machiko Kyo, Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura |
| Director: | Akira Kurosawa |
| Genres: | Drama - Crime, Mystery, World Cinema - Japanese |
| Studio: | ELEVATION |
| Original title | Rashômon |
| Collections: | Award Winners, Awesome Asian Films, IMDb Highest Rated |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Rashomon |
12 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 26 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 22 Oct 2001 |
| Main languages: | Japanese |
| Subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Four perspectives of the truth...
By Charulata from London , 28 Jan 2004[Highly rated reviewer]
Rashomon was Kurosawa's major international breakthrough, winning the Golden Lion at Venice and the best foreign film Oscar in 1951. Seeing this film it is not hard to imagine its impact: the exoticism of its Japanese settings, characters and compositions and yet it’s much broader message about the nature of truth and subjectivity.
The film centres around the violent death of a man and the rape of his wife as they journey through a forest. These events are presented in flashback from the perspective of each of the three participants giving evidence to an inquest: the bandit responsible for the rape, the wife and the dead man (whose story is told through a medium). A final version is presented by a woodcutter who was an unseen witness in the forest.
Each story describes a radically different view of the events, presenting the narrator in a more positive light and hiding personal weaknesses. There is a remarkably vital and dynamic performance from Toshiro Mifune as the bandit, and a very strong supporting cast. Although the film shows its age a little on this DVD in terms of scratches and print damage, this does not detract from masterly cinematography capturing the play of sunlight in the forest and mirroring a shifting perspective on the relationships between the characters. Rashomon is a masterwork of Japanese and international cinema, and amongst the greatest of the many great films directed by Kurosawa.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(66)Underwhelming and no longer a classic
By BenLaw (32 reviews) , 12 Jan 2013This film is regarded as a classic, and as such I had high expectations. Unfortunately, this is a film which will go down as historically important in the progression of cinema, but as lacking in the essentials of storytelling which make a film timeless. The setup is simple. Three men discuss an earlier crime, and through their discussion we same the incident from four different perspectives. The point is that none is necessarily correct. We have to grapple with the concept of the unreliable narrator and recognise that the camera is not an objective viewer or reality but a presenter of opinion. It is that that was new at the time, and why the film is important. However, such concept is dealt with in such a blunt way that sixty years on when this concept is well understood, that the film itself is ponderous and lacks entirely in dramatic tension. It comes across almost as an academic exercise. Even if this was a novel way of filmmaking, it does not feel remarkable. It feels an obvious move forward, filmmaking being artificially restrained if it was simply depicting an objective reality. I also can't help but think something like Sunset Boulevard (also made in 1950) dealt with similar issues but in a much subtler and more timeless way. The director is clearly talented, with some really well composed scenes. However, it is worth mentioning that the picture quality in this DVD is appalling. The film could do with a remaster and a blu ray release. So I would recommend anyone interested in film should watch this and will get something out of it, but as a dramatic story it is sadly lacking.- Was this review helpful to you?
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This film hasn't aged well
By Abby88 (168 reviews) from Bognor Regis , 24 Aug 2012When this came out, the plot about different perspectives was new and exciting. However today the film feels slow, sexist and irrelevant.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Rashomon - My Review
By DaddyTank (206 reviews) from Ulan Bator , 03 Mar 2012Lovely looking film and brilliant performance from Mifune who excels at sweaty, bug eyed psychopaths. The only problem I had was concentrating on the story rather than a very peculiar set of eyebrows exhibited by the wife. I also didn't really understand the end but everything else was great.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Gotta catch em' all, Rashomon!
By brianw4815 (122 reviews) from United Kingdom , 18 Feb 2011Loved this film! From the opening shot in the rain, this film took a hold of my attention and didn't let go.
An interesting look at the selfishness of man and what the 'truth' really is, from start to finish this film is captivating and exciting. Having seen Toshirô Mifune in 'Yojimbo' and loving him I was excited to see his performance here and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The infectiously mad Tajômaru the Bandit was a fantastic character and very interesting to watch. This being my second Akira Kurosawa film (Yojimbo being my first) I was glad to find that I had a great time. As always some beautiful shots and some interesting transitions, too!
Everyone does a fine job but I did find myself disliking the 'wife' quite a bit. Then again, I think that was the point!
I would definitely recommend this film!- Was this review helpful to you?
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it's not all about the swords boys
By sooziQue (3 reviews) from London , 27 Dec 2010brilliant. '50's film - timeless wisdom.
loved the actors - mesmerizing and ooze life. each characters' plight is so well and clearly represented.... entirely embodied by the performers and captured by the director.
the story is a fable. THE fable, perhaps.
several unrecognisably different accounts of the same event. The bandit, the wife, the husband.... a rape in the woods.... an 'uninvolved' witness and a shaman. the female characterisations (shaman & wife) are raw, electric evocations. soul wrenching guttural performances by all at some point, even a baby in there cries with impressive gusto!
our very human and dramatic struggle with truth and denial and the tragedy we make of it all - especially when our idea of what's going on is put to the test and called to account. what do we do when we think we can get away with it - especially when we think no one will know? the play between perspective and respective roles - seasoned with an accurately stark representation of the innate male and female psyche when set toe to toe, the balance disrupted. we play each other and ourselves off, to fool each other, whilst fooling ourselves in an attempt to live up to our erroneous idea of what other people think about us and what we permit ourselves to think about our self.... dare (or hope) it ever come into question!
the point? there's no such thing as a simple truth.- Was this review helpful to you?
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