Rating: 
Summary: You've all been fooled!
Review: I'm afraid I'll get a lot of heat from this, but if you liked this movie, you've lost your mind. I'm afraid all too often people are influenced by critics and intimidated by old black and white films with subtitles. Though it may be a ground-breaking style of film, that does not make it a good film. In a sad attempt to confuse the truth about the death of a man, Kurosawa frustrates audiences with a bad Twilight Zone episode; too long and without that creepy plot twist so very needed. Best performance goes to the bad dubbing-over for the psychic.
Rating: 
Summary: My Favourite Kurosawa
Review: In my top ten movies of all time. I would say that this is Kurosawa's masterwork. Obviously he has created many classic films, but this simply, for me, defines what he was all about. The DVD itself is extremly well done, with a commentary by Robert Altman. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Impressive Concept
Review: This was a difficult movie to rate because the concept was excellent and well-presented but I felt the movie lacked a little to maintain the interest of the viewer from start to finish. As such, I found myself looking and thinking ahead rather than focussing on the current scene on the screen.This is an older movie which should be appreciated for what a masterful work it was in its' time. It hasn't lost much during its' tenure but the texture of this black and white movie has seen better days. The acting is very good and, to better appreciate it, I watched it in Japanese with sub-titles. The DVD has other options for viewing including English dubbing. I will probably look at that option the next time I view it. The story is simple yet complex. There is a rape and murder in the countryside. The story of what happened is related by four witnesses including, in a very impressive use of make-up, the deceased himself. Everyone's story is slanted towards their role in the events. The participants tend to see themselves as victims and so the truth looks different depending on who is telling the story. This is the magnificence of the movie. There are three persons who serve as a sort of narration and editorial team which helps give the movie greater impact. The story begins in a poring rain with the story-line just as dismal. It ends with the sun shinning and we are given a note of hope to finish up with. In my line of work, I have become accustomed to hearing many a complaint. I have learned (the hard way) not to pass judgement until I hear the other side (or in some cases "sides") of the story. Sometimes I get lied to but often the differences come from individual's perspectives of how they are affected by the events in question. Some people feel themselves a victim in many cases. Still other feel responsible for many things completely beyond their control. "Rashomon" reminds us that all is not necessarily as it seems. It is a short (88 minutes) but effective treatise on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: Simply an excellent film
Review: Rashomon is a fabulous film. When a nobleman is murdered and his wife raped while travelling through a wooded area, a bandit, played by Toshiro Mifune is accused of the crimes and an inquest is held. The witnesses--including the spirit of the murdered noblemen--each recount conflicting and contradictory accounts of what actually happened. To what extent it is the result of simple faulty memory or the product of willful deciet is for the viewer to decide, thus making for a very thought-provoking movie.
Rating:
Summary: The truth hurts -- a lot
Review: A man is dead, a woman was raped, and that's all that can be definitely said. Somebody has committed murder, but nobody knows whodunnit. Genius filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" is a classic for its skillful direction, suspense and wonderful acting. It's one of those movies you think must be vastly overrated until you see it, and are blown away by it. At the Rashomon Gate in eleventh-century Japan, a man (Kichijiro Ueda) takes shelter with a priest (Minoru Chiaki) and a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) during a rainstorm. The woodcutter is depressed and the priest is horrified, over a recent crime: the vicious bandit Tajômaru (Toshirô Mifune) was arrested for murdering a man named Takehiro (Masayuki Mori) and raping his wife Masako (Machiko Kyô). But when taken before the police, Tajômaru claims that he has his fun with the woman and killed her husband honorably in a fight. But Masako begs to differ; she claims to be the victim first of the sadistic bandit, then of her cold-hearted husband. And when a medium calls up the spirit of Takehiro, he claims that Masako was unfaithful, asking the bandit to murder him, then spurned by Tajômaru. Her actions drove Takehiro to suicide. And the woodcutter himself claims to have seen the altercation -- and his version is wildly different from them all. During the filming of "Rashomon," director Akira Kurosawa stated that the film is a reflection of life, which doesn't always have clear meanings. The same could be said of truth. Questions are raised by the events of "Rashomon," but given no easy answers -- sometimes no answers at all (my biggest question was how Masako's gown stays so white if she's always weeping on the ground). Light and shadow whirl and dance in a frankly beautiful woodland setting, serving as a pretty backdrop for some very ugly acts. The fight scenes are masterful -- they look like real fights, as opposed to choreography. Tajômaru's are more stylized, whereas the woodcutter sees two guys rolling and staggering around with swords, obviously freaked out. Kurosawa was even brave enough to touch on the unique idea of having the deceased testify. The spinechilling seance scene, starring a downright spooky, stark-faced Fumiko Honma, is a haunting classic scene. Are Kurosawa's insights dark and depressing? In a fascinating, hypnotic way... yes. But while calmly pointing out the ability of human beings to lie even to themselves, he acknowledges that there's good in there too (a scene where the woodcutter adopts an abandoned baby as the priest watches). We lose our illusions and innocence as the priest loses his, forced to look on how despicable people can be, but while being comforted with the knowledge that people aren't all bad, and that unadulterated truth isn't really necessary to have good in you. Toshirô Mifune chews the scenery with gusto as the barbarian bandit, laughing and jerking like a hyena just to see people jump. At first glance, Machiko Kyô seems to be overacting, until you see how unhinged her character has become by whatever happened. Masayuki Mori doesn't get to act as much as the others (the poor guy spends most of his time tied to a tree), but is good when the camera zooms in on him. Minoru Chiaki and Takashi Shimura add an extra dimension as the innocent young priest and the tormented woodcutter. Gloomy, thought-provoking and ultimately quite freaky, "Rashomon" still defies conventional filmmaking and will suck you right in. It's brilliantly crafted and exceptionally directed, and must be seen by all lovers of cinema. And that's the truth!
Rating:
Summary: Rashomonument
Review: This is somewhat marred by a hokey score modeled on Bolero, Mifune's crude though powerful performance, and the pregnant sentimentality of the opening and ending that frame the narratives grappling with the elusive nature of reality. In the forest a samurai was killed. Was he killed by a bandit, by his wife, or at his own hands? Did he die with dignity, grace, sadness, or in shame? Strangely enough, the particulars brought before questioning try to justify themselves by blaming themselves for the murder(or suicide). The issue isn't so much guilt or innocence but sense of honor to oneself and in the eyes of society. Strange indeed. Kurosawa, then in the humanist mode, sums up the movie with a positive message that's well-meaning and genuine but somehow out of place in context of the main narratives.
Rating:
Summary: Beware to those who pass through the gates of Rashomon
Review: Once you have passed through, you will be stripped of all pretense. This shocking movie leaves you wondering what has just happened. That it is able to do this in Japanese is all the more amazing. You are left looking at the shell of a destroyed society, wondering how it could have happened in the first place-and wondering if it is possible for man to learn his lessons.
Rating:
Summary: "What is truth?"
Review: In the first chapter of Burton F. Porter's excellent new book, Philosophy through Fiction and Film, he discusses the problem of obtaining reliable knowledge and he uses Akira Kurosawa's ground breaking film, Rashomon, to illustrate the difficulty of determining the truth value of what we think we see and know. Professor Porter gives us a careful summary of the film with his thoughtful comments on the challenge of knowing the absolute truth about what we experience. When asked about what he knew for certain, Albert Einstein said that the only thing he could be certain of was the speed of light, and even that was open to question. Kurosawa and Einstein appear to be in accord and Rashomon is Kurosawa's attempt to show how difficult it is to know the truth of what actually happened, even when an event is viewed by several eyewitnesses. Rashomon is now available on DVD, courtesy of the Criterion Collection of Films, and the black and white print we see on the screen is sharp and clear and the sound is good. This film does not translate well to the small televison screen. I sat up close to my 32" Panasonic and wished I had a larger TV so that I might be drawn in more completely as a witness to the complex and engaging story. The movie opens at the Rashomon Gate in feudal Japan. A woodcutter and a priest are sitting patiently waiting for a rainstorm to subside. Soon another man, a commoner, joins them and the woodcutter begins to share with the two other men his confusion about the facts surrounding a recent rape and murder. We learn later that the woodcutter is an eyewitness to the crimes, but first he tells us about his experience as he watches intently an investigation/trial. A judge is listening to a bandit, a woman, and a dead samurai, whose testimony is revealed through a medium, tell the judge their version of the rape and murder. The bandit first tells us he is reponsible for rape of the woman and the death of the samurai. Next the woman seems to indicate that she might be responsible for the death of the samurai, her husband. Then the samurai, by means of a medium, indicates that he committed suicide. Finally, the woodcutter tells us that the bandit is indeed responsible for the murder. Each of these stories is visually recreated in effective flashbacks. Lest any viewer think this problem is factual and straight forward, all the viewer needs to do is to write out his version of the various stories and then check with what even well respected critics have to say to see that the viewer's version will differ sometimes signficantly from various professional reviews. Kurosawa demonstrates convincingly that in the telling of events each viewer is likely to put forward a version that enhances the way that viewer is perceived by others. This film is about truth and lies and the point made is that the person we are most likely to be untruthful to is ourself. If we are unable to tell the truth to ourselves, how will we be able to be honest with others? Everthing we see and experience is filtered through the total experience of our lives. In a world filled with competing stimuli, where do we focus our attention? We miss more than we see, sometimes even things right under our very noses. Reality is fabulous, as in this Kurosawa film, but he shows us that it is also as ephemeral as the light passing through the trees in the forest creating shadows everywhere. Rashomon was made for a Japanese audience and was very popular in Japan. In 1951 it was shown at the Venice Film Festival and won the Golden Lion Award. Since that time it has taken its place among the finest films ever made. It is not without its flaws, chief of which, in my opinion, is the music score, particularly the adaptation of Ravel's Bolero, which distracts the viewer from the events taking place on screen. Also, at the very end of the film a baby is found at the Rashomon Gate and the woodcutter takes the baby home to add to his large family. This plot device to soften the negative impact of the film on the audience and to give hope where little has been experienced weakens the impact of all the events in the story we have just seen. For a film meant to be shown to a Japanese audience, this "Hollywood" ending seems out of place and untrue. The greatness of the film is the story it tells and the superb perfomances of all the actors. I cannot agree with critics who feel that some of the perfomances of the actors, particularly the bandit, were "over the top." This film is a highly visual, almost a throwback to silent pictures. We learn about the characters from what we see more than from what we hear. Additionally, the superb camera work is a most important part of the story telling process. Rashomon is a must for students of the cinema and, as was mentioned earlier in this review, for anyone interested in trying to learn the truth value of knowledge.
Rating:
Summary: Rashomon is about the war.
Review: Rashomon is about the war. The image of a half-destroyed Japan as represented by the half-destroyed Rashomon gate appears in the opening scene. Beneath it, several people find shelter in the undestroyed portion, and as the rain forms them into a group, they seek to understand why a terrible crime has occurred. Rashomon opened to Japanese audiences in 1950, about four years after the Emperor spoke to his nation and ended the war. Watch carefully as Kurosawa takes his audience through the process of understanding. We never get to the truth of the actual events of the murder, and that was the experience of the Japanese public regarding their country and WWII. Instead, like their truths, the truth seen by the Rashomon audience is distorted through viewpoints. The warrior class samurai-turned-bandit knows he'll be blamed, and then recounts the episode with self-aggrandizing machismo in true kamakazi fashion. The cleric did accurately recall the deceased's weaponry in type and number and didn't see the woman's face. The woman says she can't remember if she's responsible, but we all know she herself was a victim. The dead man, who speaks to us through a medium, claims responsibility for his own death, and thereby absolves the living -- almost. Later we learn that the woodcutter, the average Japanese worker, saw the whole thing and did nothing to stop it. That, as it turns out, is the most horrible crime of all. The movie concludes at the Rashomon gate, where we are left with the guilt of the average Japanese citizen for failing to stop the warlords, and a priest. We then discover that in the half-destroyed structure, there is now someone else, an orphan. The skies clear and the woodcutter, who already has six children, insists that the priest allow him to take the baby. Charity is penitence.
Rating:
Summary: Secrets of Rashomon
Review: Rashomon was the second Akira Kurosawa film I have seen after Yojimbo and I am proud to call it my best film experience so far. The plot is amazing and leaves the audience stunned with its mystery long after the film has ended. The screenplay and photography is wonderfull along with the incredibly amazing acting staff that really gave me a new perspective on films and how strong they seem. I really love this movie and is recommended very strongly. A stunning Masterpiece of a Film, everything is good about it and you wont get dissapointed.
| 
