Rating: 
Summary: yeah, yeah, yeah . . .
Review: Okay, Kurosawa is a genius and this film has some important innovations with regard to structure, etc. - BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO SIT THROUGH IT. If Kurosawa ever made a worse film, I (thankfully) haven't seen it. No matter what you've heard, this one can - at least temporarily - spoil the memory of the master who made "Yojimbo", "Ran", "Throne of Blood", etc. You will wonder how on earth Korosawa managed to draw such mind-bendingly (bad) performances from such good actors. (A film studies teacher of mine once ignorantly declared that this was the "Japanese acting style." But even Mizoguchi's most overwrought melodramas of the period are models of restraint by comparison.) Mifune's eyes roll like a madman and the veins in his temples throb dramatically when delivering even the most innocuous lines. Likewise, Machiko Kyou's every utterance is a patience-eroding wail. Even the (characters) in the embarrasingly bad framing segments scream thier dialogue like irritating lunatics. Kurosawa's 'humanistic' impulses ruined his movies from time to time. After seeing this or the risible "Dodeskaden" (Shantyland at Disneyworld) it may be necessary to sit through "Yojimbo" or "Seven Samurai" again, just to remember how great Kurosawa could be. I'm giving it two stars - because of it's undeniable influence - but I enjoyed it A LOT less than that. I realize that I'm spitting on one of the most hallowed shrines in all cinema. You probably don't want to know how I feel about Bertolucci or Altman.
Rating: 
Summary: An overated film
Review: While I love Kurosawa's samurai films and the great "Kagemusha", I think "Rashomon" is overrated, probably because 1) people who watch it already heard it was good, and 2) the cultured Western audience finds the story and acting exotic enough to be fascinating. I cannot say I dislike the film; in fact I like it. But I think the acting is over dramatic and the camera shots too staged. The acting in particular irks me, much like that in "Ran", because it looks too much like kabuki on stage. But "Rashomon" does have its style; it's just not a style I find comfortable with. The best part about "Rashomon" is its masteful editing techniques, which hides quite a few continuity flaws. In the end, very few of my Asian friends -- esp. Japanese -- like the movie because they view it portraying Asians in a negative light. I think this is something to be kept in mind as you watch it.
Rating: 
Summary: A delight
Review: Akira Kurosawa loved rain. From the opening shot, rain is used to mask thought. There's no doubt about it. Rashomon is a very strange film. It feels 'different'. Rashomon is the story of a man's death told from four different points of view. A man takes his wife through a forest when they encounter a bandit, Tajomaru, played by Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa's favourite actor. The events which take place between that moment and the death of the man are unknown. Four recollections are told from Tajomaru's point of view, the man's wife point of view, the man's spirit point of view, and, finally, from the peasant who is out collecting firewood and sees the incident. Every character tells his or her story to appear as if they've done nothing wrong. That's why it's difficult to believe any of them. The direction of the film is beautiful. Every scene is perfect, like a fairy tale (one memorable scene is when the woman spins around in the dust and is possessed by her dead husband's spirit). Mifune's character, Tajomaru, is a rogue, full of mischief and animalism, basically what Mifune does best. Rashomon's quality lies in its philosophies of mankind. We're already living in hell and there's no such thing as truth, laughs one of the peasants, though, if you're not put off by thoughtful films, Rashomon is quite heavenly to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: A cinematically beautiful, touching film
Review: This film is the one that brought Kurosawa to international fame. A tale of betrayal, lust, and, ultimately, murder, Kurosawa explores the depths of human capacity for evil, yet also leaves hope for redemption of the human soul. Arguably one of the greatest and most-influential films of all time, it is beautifully acted by the entire cast. A must see!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing film
Review: The film will make you contemplate the perspective of others as they recount events, as much as the words they use to retell their tales. Desire & fear contribute signigicant influence over the retelling of events in our lives, and better than any other, this film exposes and contemplates the issues surrounding "the truth."
Rating:
Summary: Quite simply, the greatest film of all time
Review: The desire to plumb the depths of the terrible unknowable nature of truth is the subtle theme of this classic whose title has become part of our film vocabulary. If you have not seen this film you cannot consider your movie education anywhere near complete. Kurowasa probably made five or six of the greatest films in just about any top ten films list, but this is the masterpeice that he will be remembered for hundreds of years in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Film you have to watch TWICE to fully appreciate
Review: In Akira Kurosawa's classic film "Rashomon," a woodcutter, a thief, a wife and a dead husband each relate in turn a "rape" and "murder." Everyone has seen this movie ripped off (or homaged) on television shows from "All in the Family" to "The X-Files," so seeing the original at this late date is certainly a distorted endeavor. However, the important thing to remember is to WATCH THIS FILM TWICE. Not that further proof of the mastery of Kurosawa is needed, but each narrative in this film is told in a different cinematic style. The second time around pay attention to how the composition of the shots, the music in the background, the editing technique are all unique to each version of what happened in the woods. There are those who say this film is about the ambiguity of truth, arguing that what really happened is never depicted in the film. I do not buy this interpretation at all. At the end we do indeed get the "truth," which is why a second viewing of the film is so wor!thwhile, for it allows us to reinterpret each narrative to reach an understanding of why each person distorts their telling of the tale. Their distortions, omissions and lies are not random, but strategic given each individual caught up in this situation. The historical note that this film "introduced" Japanese cinema to the Western World is an interesting footnote. But this is a psychological drama that transcends culture, which is to say that the film is not as inherently "Japanese" as other Kurosawa efforts (and I make this comment cognizant of the stilted American adaptation of the tale which was set, like most adaptations of Kurosawa, in the old West).
Rating:
Summary: a sublime masterpiece
Review: Perhaps one of the greatest films ever made, the truth and beauty it brings to the screen is incredibly moving. With beautiful black and white cinematography, brilliant acting (Toshiro Mifune is amazing !), and a wonderful, life-affirming ending, this is a must for any collection and one that you'll never tire of seeing.
Rating: 
Summary: My Favorite Kurosawa Film!
Review: After learning about this film I became very interested to watch it. The idea of hearing FOUR different people's observations concerning a murder. What caught my attention was how TRUE TO LIFE the story is. Everything in life is dependent upon how we as individuals interpret situations depending on our different points of view. Just look at AMAZON! Here we have people voice their opinions on music,movies,books ect... And it's all based on our understanding of what we see and hear. I guess we always know this about our society but perhaps we stick it in the back of our heads. It's really amazing if you just sit back and think about it,how events and not only that but our own lives are judged just on how we delineate things. Watch this movie and it will really open your eyes to how our society works. How everything in life is about our view of it. It's just fascinating! WATCH IT AND SEE
Rating:
Summary: Kurosawa Sensei Dake No O Shinjiteru Yo...
Review: RASHOMON: One of many masterpiece sets from the six-feet tall Japanese film master perfectionist who had been around in the film making business for half century or so and rendered to viewers such classics as SEVEN SAMURAI ( Japanese warrior which was considered to be of higher in rank than merchant and peasant yet lower than priest / monk in feudal era hierarchy ); THE HIDDEN FORTRESS where duel scenes between Toshiro Mifune' s character and his enemy inspired the subsequent face-to-face, dead or alive finale between Luke Skywalker and the Father of Darkness ( Darth Vader ) in Star Wars; IKIRU ( To live )- the story of a middle-aged, commercial-oriented business man / materialist who became enlightened for some reason from his final-staged cancer acknowledgement and firmly decided to leave his life-worthwhile mark by materializing the community school project for underprivileged children that had been put on hold for long before his FIN DE TEMPS eventually came; RAN- the Japanese version of King Lear; et al. RASHOMON tells the same story from different sources: the dead husband ghost; his wife; the bandit; the peasant and leaves it all up to you to justify and select your version of truth-in-itself, if any, out of these four. Each one told the story just in ways to suggest own benefits, leading us to comtemplate which one is just more or less true, if any of these is true at all ( I know it sounds absurd for one to find it more or less true, yet no kidding ! ). Considered to be way too avant-garde in its own decade the movie was originally released, due to the non-conventional story-telling sequence / screenplay ( More or less like Pulp Fiction's ) Rashomon was artistically portrayed in ways to continuously provoke viewers' thoughts wittily with the sublime performance by the main characters under magnificent light use within the tensed atmosphere wherever appropriate. The film will suit best the following viewer types: 1) Unconventional die-hard moviehead; 2) Film-making school student; 3) Movie critic; 4) Any art house movie lover; et al From this film and others including Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Ran, etc. Kurosawa sensei ( master ) is probably the best conventional director of all time. ( Hontoeni dokomademo Kurosawa Akira sensei no ONE OF THE BESTs, kore ! ) - SP
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