Rashomon
1950
directed by
Akira Kurosawa
The first Kurosawa movie to reach the west. For long his most well-known film, but gradually Seven Samurai took over.
There even is a computer game based on Seven Samurai, with Kurosawa's son in the credits (ugh), but Rashomon
must have even greater game potential. If you don't know yet the story is about the unreliability of witnesses,
especially when they talk about their own role, where have you been lately?
You owe it to yourself to see this one.
The first Kurosawa movie I ever saw, in the NCO mess of the army unit I was doing time in.
On a 12 inch screen from 6 meters distance.
Never saw it again before I got it on VHS.
Ironically enough, Toho did not want to produce this movie and so all honor went to Daiei Motion Picture Co., Ltd.
Alas, Daiei is not that fanatic about quality as Toho and the original negative has been lost;
the dupe negative contains some tape splices and cables.
There is a so-called occult medium in the movie, who's supposed to tell us what really happened.
You may take exception to this, but that would make you a loser. Just read it as a dramatic trick.
Produced by Daiei
Japan 1950
88 minutes, B/W, Academy screen
DAIEI
| Credits: |
Cast: |
||
| producer screenplay after two stories by photographer art director music by |
Jingo Minoru (later) Masaichi Nagata Shinobu Hashimoto Akira Kurosawa Ryunosuke Akutagawa Kazuo Miyagawa So Matsuyama Fumio Hayasaka |
Tajumaru, the bandit Takegiro, the samurai Masago, his wife the woodcutter the priest the commoner the police agent the medium |
Toshiro Mifune Masayuki Mori Machiko Kyo Takashi Shimura Minoru Chiaki Kichijro Ueda Daisuke Kato Fumika Homma |
| Rashomon |
| A rape and murder in medieval Japan are recounted in four flashback sequences, as seen through the eyes of the three people involved and a witness to the incident. Each version differs from the others, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions on what actually transpired. Akira Kurosawa's breakthrough drama stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo. |
| Standard; Soundtrack: Japanese Dolby Digital mono, English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; theatrical trailer; more. |
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