RASHOMON (1950) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Akira Kurosawa Writers: Shinobu Hashimoto and Akira Kurosawa (based on the stories "Rashomon" and "In a Grove" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa) Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma
Watching Kurosawa's "Rashomon," I was reminded of the bits and pieces I saw of the O.J. Simpson trial, or really any trial that goes on forever. The attorneys are all trying to dig up clues to what really happened, brining in star witnesses to tell their side of the story, and wouldn't you know it if most of them conflicted in some way(s) with the others. O.J. might have gotten off, but whether or not he did what some people say he did is something we may never find out. Truth may be in the eye of the beholder, but nine-and-a-half times out of ten, it's not the real truth.
"Roshomon," the breakthrough film for the incredible Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa (who would go on to direct "The Seven Samurai," "Yojimbo," and "Ran," among many others), deals with three people stranded at Roshomon, the gate of Japan in the medieval days, during an intense rain storm. They are: a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura), a priest (Minoru Chiaki), and a nomad (Kichijiro Ueda). The woodcutter is ravaged due to a murder trial he witnessed, and proceeds to tell them everything that occured for the duration of the storm.
Whilst journeying out to the woods, he stumbled upon a murder, went to alert the police, and was dragged to the trial, which dealt with a bandit named Tajomuru (the great Toshirô Mifune) who allegedly raped a woman (Machiko Kyô), and killed her husband (Masayuki Mori). His story says that he wooed her and fought for her in a duel with the husband, whom he then killed. But her story is that she was raped, and accidentally killed her husband because he could not trust her after she was raped. Two more perspectives are told, and each one ends up conflicting with all the others. Who is telling the truth?
That we don't find out. Since only three to four people were involved with it, either directly or indirectly, and each of them tells a different story, there is no way of knowing the real truth. Should we pick one and say that is the general accepted truth? Even a trial like the one in this film can never truly discover what really happened. We will probably never know the real truth because whomever tells what happens puts a personal spin on it for some personal reason.
The four stories are deftly written so to provide basis for the characters who tell them. They reveal so much about these people, that it is obvious that none of these stories are the real truth, and that whatever really happened is probably a composite of the four, with different things right and wrong in each of them. These people may be suffering from guilt or some other personal problem, but each of them cannot tell the whole truth for some reason, sometimes unexplained blatantly, but disguised ingeniusly within the respective narrative.
The film is not only a landmark for being one of the most philosophical and brilliant films of all time, but is also one of the most entertaining. At a short running time of 88 minutes (give or take a second), the film is in constant motion, and is never boring. Even though we see the same story four times with different perspectives, each time it's refreshing and as interesting as the last. Not to mention there is some really fun samurai action throughout - a staple of Kurosawa's work.
Another out of the million things I love about this movie is how it never explains what happens. In "Courage Under Fire," we discovered the truth, but that was for a different reason, although I can see it actually being better if we never did. This film presents us the facts, but allows the viewer to debate over it. And I don't know about you, but I adore film as a form of debate.
With amazing direction, wonderful acting, and a deft screenplay, it is no wonder to why it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. "Rashomon" is after all a fable of man's inability to tell the truth, and one of those films which you discuss and rack through your mind over and over again, looking for the truth. My argument: the truth is not to be found. And that's the cold hard truth about man kind.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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