Rashômon

Plot synopsis:
Sheltering from a rainstorm in the ruins of the Rashomon gatehouse, a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) and a priest (Minoru Chiaki) sit dejected. A commoner (Kichijiro Ueda) joins them, and wants to hear the "strange story" they have just heard at a murder enquiry in the courthouse garden. The story has horrified the priest. Even though "year after year, it's been nothing but disasters," he has "never heard a story as horrible as this." The woodcutter is utterly confounded, and hopes the commoner can help him understand it.The woodcutter begins the narration, telling the commoner that three days earlier he had gone "into the mountains to get wood."The woodcutter is walking through the woods, carrying his axe. Sunlight filters through the foliage, dappling everything with a mix of sun and sharp shadows. He sees a woman's hat caught on a bush. Further along, he picks up a samurai's hat and some cut up rope. He sees something small amongst the leaves on the ground, and goes towards it, but does not notice the corpse right in front of him until he trips over it. He screams and, dropping everything (including his axe), runs away. He says, "I ran as fast as I could to tell the police. Then, three days later--today--I was called to testify."The woodcutter is seated in the sunlit courthouse garden, addressing the court, unseen and unheard behind the camera. He testifies that he is the one who found the body. Asked if he saw "a sword or something," he protests emphatically that he found "nothing at all" but the hats, rope, and "a shiny amulet case." And here he lets slip two additional details: the rope was "near the body" and the amulet case had "a red lining."The priest is seated in the courthouse garden. He testifies that he saw the man three days earlier, travelling on the road with a woman on a horse, and armed with a sword and bow and arrows. [There is a brief shot of the samurai passing on the road, turning to smile at his wife.] The priest comments on the fragility of life and offers condolences to someone off screen--presumably the wife.The policeman (Daisuke Kato) is seated in the courthouse garden. The bandit (Toshiro Mifune) is sitting beside him, bound. The policeman identifies the bandit as the notorious Tajomaru. He had captured him two days earlier, at dusk. [There is a brief shot of the policeman finding the bandit writhing in agony on a riverbank. The bandit pushes him into the river.] He describes the weapons and horse belonging to the samurai. He concludes that Tajomaru must have fallen from the stolen horse.The bandit hotly denies falling from his horse. [There is a brief shot depicting the bandit as he wants to be perceived: galloping in heroic mode across the horizon, with stirring music.] He explains to the court that he was thirsty, and drank from a spring. [There is a brief shot of him drinking thirstily from a stream.] He says it must have been contaminated, because he was ill and had to get off the horse. The bandit says he knows he is doomed, so he has no reason to hide anything. He says it was he who killed the samurai. [There is a scene of the bandit lounging against a large tree, watching as the samurai (Masayuki Mori) and his wife (Machiko Kyo) pass by, the samurai eyeing the bandit warily.] The bandit says he initially intended "to take her without killing the man."Throughout the woodcutter's narration of the bandit's testimony the bandit's bravado and dignity are undercut. He has animal-like mannerisms, and appears indolent and ignoble, constantly scratching and swatting flies.The bandit runs through the woods to catch up to the couple. He accosts the samurai, lures him into the woods with a tale of a cache of swords he will sell cheap, and jumps him from behind. He laughs in triumph, and goes to get the wife, tricking her by saying her husband has suddenly "taken sick." In the courthouse garden the bandit says the wife's look of concern made him jealous, and this made him want to humiliate the samurai.Running through the woods, led by the bandit, the wife loses her hat. When they reach the grove she sees her husband tied to a tree stump. The wife, at first frozen and powerless, suddenly draws a dagger and fiercely attacks the bandit. She struggles, but eventually gives up. The bandit kisses her. She drops the dagger and embraces him.In the court the bandit says that he "had succeeded in having her without killing her husband." Having got what he wanted, it would make sense for the bandit to leave the scene while he can easily get away.In the grove, the bandit begins to leave, taking the samurai's sword. But the woman makes a bizarre melodramatic request that the men duel to the death. In response, he frees the samurai and lets him have his sword back. There is a fierce, dramatic sword fight. The bandit finally kills the samurai.In the courthouse garden the bandit boasts that it was an honourable, impressive fight, claiming they "crossed swords 23 times." When asked about the woman, he has to think a moment about this odd loose end, and supposes she ran off in fright (contrary to the fierce spirit that had attracted him). Responding to further questions, the bandit says that he sold the samurai's sword to buy liquor, and that he had forgotten the dagger--a "foolish" mistake, as it "looked very valuable."In the Rashomon gatehouse the woodcutter says the bandit's and the woman's stories were lies. The commoner observes that this is human. "Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves." The priest laments that this is because men are "weak." The priest says the woman was found hiding in a temple, and that she appeared at the enquiry. He says she showed no fierceness, was "almost pitiful."The priest takes over the narration, and begins relating the woman's testimony.The woman is in the courthouse garden, prostrate and weeping. She says after forcing her to "yield to him" the bandit laughed mockingly. In the grove, the bandit takes the samurai's sword and runs off. The woman embraces her bound husband, but he remains impassive. In the court, the woman says she saw "neither anger, nor sorrow, but a cold light, a look of loathing." In the grove, she begs him to stop, but he continues to look at her with cold disdain. She collapses in despair, then retrieves the dagger, cuts his bonds, and tells him to kill her. When he does not respond, she pleads for him to stop condemning her with his silence, and repeats this over and over as she approaches him with the dagger clenched in her hand.In the courthouse garden she says that she must have fainted and that when she came to she saw her dagger in her dead husband's chest. She says she remembers only a pond [There is a brief shot of the surface of a pond.], and throwing herself in, and failing with several other attempts to kill herself. She dissolves in tears.In the Rashomon gatehouse, the commoner comments that women "use their tears to fool everyone." The priest mentions "the dead man's story," explaining that "he spoke through a medium." The woodcutter says, "His story was also lies," and he looks away from them, agitated. The priest refuses to believe a dead man would be so sinful as to lie, but the cynical commoner observes: "But is there anyone who's really good? Maybe goodness is just make-believe. . . Man just wants to forget the bad stuff and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way." He asks the priest to continue.In the courthouse garden, the medium (Fumiko Honma) performs a ritual around a small altar, and goes into a trance. When she speaks, it is the samurai's voice that is heard.The medium/samurai tells a story that incorporates sentiments and actions that vilify the woman, and are out of character and illogical for the bandit, but that result in the bandit and the woman leaving separately, with the samurai free of his bonds. In this sequence there are frequent cuts between the grove and the courthouse garden.The medium/samurai says the bandit "tried to console his wife." In the grove, the bandit is kneeling by the woman, who is lying on the ground. He "was cunning," telling the woman that he loved her, and that she should marry him now. She gives in to him, and agrees to go with him "wherever." But then she tells the bandit to kill her husband. The bandit is appalled, throws her to the ground, and asks the samurai what he wants: "Kill her or save her? You only have to nod." The medium/samurai laughs with triumphant satisfaction, and says: "For those words alone, I was ready to pardon his crime."The woman runs away. The bandit chases her, but is unable to catch her. He returns, exhausted and frustrated. He cuts the samurai's bindings, and leaves, taking both swords. The samurai weeps. He sees his wife's dagger, and uses it to stab himself. In court, the medium collapses. In the background, the woodcutter's attention is riveted. The medium/samurai says: "Then someone quietly approached me. That someone gently withdrew the dagger from my heart." When the medium's testimony stops there, the woodcutter relaxes.In the Rashomon gatehouse, the woodcutter paces thoughtfully. He suddenly asserts: "Its not true! There was no dagger. He was killed by a sword." The commoner looks skeptical, and presses the woodcutter to explain how he knows this. The woodcutter avoids eye contact when he claims that he was a witness, but did not tell the court because he "didn't want to get involved." He says he came upon the scene and, from behind a bush, observed the bandit begging the woman for forgiveness.The woodcutter tells a story that incorporates elements from the different stories heard in court. He describes actions that are out of character and implausible, and the demeanor of the characters fluctuates wildly. There is no music--only the sounds of insects, rustling leaves, and gasping breath.In the grove, the bandit begs the woman to go with him, and says he will do anything for her. She retrieves the dagger, and cuts the samurai's bonds. The samurai is still wearing his sword, but just stands there. The bandit assumes she wants them to fight a duel. The samurai refuses to risk his life "for such a woman." The bandit starts to leave. The woman laughs derisively, and derides them both for their lack of manhood. This drives the men to fight. The woman laughs, but then looks horrified. The men fight with farcical ineptitude in something resembling an undignified peasant brawl. The bandit finally spears the cowering samurai. The woman recoils from the bandit. He grabs the samurai's sword, and she runs away. He is too exhausted to chase her. He retrieves his own sword, and hobbles away.In the Rashomon gatehouse, the cynical commoner doubts this story. The priest despairs that men cannot trust one another. Then they hear an abandoned baby cry.When the woodcutter berates the commoner for stealing the baby's kimono, the commoner deflects the criticism by condemning the parents who abandoned their child. He says that no one is honest. He hasn't been fooled by the woodcutter. He knows the woodcutter must have stolen the dagger. The woodcutter hangs his head in shame. The commoner slaps the woodcutter, and goes on his way, laughing mockingly.The priest and the woodcutter stand dejected. The rain stops. The woodcutter reaches to take the baby from the priest. The priest recoils, and the woodcutter shakes his head, looking very hurt. He explains: "I have six kids of my own. Another one wouldn't make a difference." The priest recognizes that the woodcutter is basically a decent man, ashamed of his petty theft. He apologizes for his mistrust, and thanks him, because now he feels he can keep his faith in man. The priest hands the baby to the woodcutter. They bow to one another, and the woodcutter turns. The priest follows him to the steps of the gatehouse, and the two bow to each other again. The woodcutter leaves, walking into the sunlight. He is looking happy.

Tags: mystery, murder, paranormal, bleak, flashback, psychedelic, philosophical, suspenseful

Review:
Selfish excuses vs trust in other people.Rashomon gets masterful when in one instant there is literally a different point of view: the camera takes another position to shoot the same sequence, thereby forcing the audience to reconsider what they just saw.
'Ghost dog: the way of the samurai' (1999) touched another border of the concept, or does it?The use of (non-original) music in my opinion reveals a certain interest for western influence, not only in Rashomon, but also in Kurosawa's forthcoming films, and is probably why his films were so influential on western filmmakers too.The cinematography is dynamic and changes scene by scene to emphasize exactly what is going on.
The film opens when a priest and woodcutter are encountered by a man who engages in a conversation about crime with them and subsequently learns that a samurai has been killed in the woods and his wife raped by a bandit.
In many ways the best thing about "Rashomon" is that it never reveals what actually happens (or if any of the four accounts is in fact true), and although we are not meant to solve the mystery (the idea here is that there is no objective truth since humans are too selfish and dishonest to view anything without bias) the story structure is still brilliant and adds a lot of ambiance to the film.
While theatrical acting (Kurosawa was fascinated with silent film) worked perfectly with films like "Seven Samurai" and "Throne of Blood", it does nothing but take away from the realism of this oft claustrophobic human drama.
Yes, Mifune (Tajomaru, the bandit) does provide an interesting spin on his character for each telling, and Takashi Shumura (the woodcutter) seems as honest and real as any character could possibly be, but nearly all of that effect is lost every time Machiko Kyo appears on screen.
While discussing actors I have to (unconventionally) note Fumiko Honma as the medium, who brings a wonderfully eerie air to the film during its greatest scenes.I don't think "Rashomon" is Kurosawa's best or most important film, but it is still a masterful piece of cinema which is absolutely essential for any film lover.
A viewer could walk away from this film, after several viewings, and discover different truths about the characters and story.
It's raining outside and a woodcutter (Takashi Shumura) and a priest (Minoru Chiaki) inadvertently find themselves in the company of a wandering commoner (Kichijiro Ueda), and as he asks them what is the matter they both begin to relay the most horrific story they claim to know -- of a brutal murder a few days prior.Kurosawa then switches to flashback and we see three different versions of the exact same event -- the slaying of an innocent man (the murderer played by Kurosawa film regular Toshirô Mifune) in the woods outside the village.
Some people have complained that the ending is a cop-out and sentimental hogwash, but I think Kurosawa was fond of sentimentality to a point (he uses a good deal of it in "Ikiru") but the difference between what he does with sentimentality as opposed to many filmmakers of today is that he uses to to ENRICH the story, not provide an easy solution to all the problems.Is there resolution in the finale of "Rashomon"?
The story he used for Rashomon is now, like Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, and Yojimbo, a near archetype that at this point in the history of film has become formula and common knowledge for writers and directors.
The three who discuss the details of the crimes and confessions are crucial- they speak for us, what our opinions might be, and we listen to each version of the story, the characters, the fears, the pride, the shame, and the search for judgment and/or truth in the situation.Along with being director and co-adapter, Kurosawa's mastery is revealed heavily in his use of editing- there are short, fleeting moments that hint, or rather pronounce, emotions and thoughts.
The cast also deserve their share of credit for how well it works, and the photography is excellent, as it is in almost all of Kurosawa's films.Kurosawa's expertise makes the interwoven sequences of past and present - essentially telling two different stories - not only work flawlessly, but fit together thematically.
Kurosawa was also working with much less in terms of possible precedents.In one sense, the choice of specific story material could seem a little odd.The downbeat, rather sordid scenario makes the movie somewhat less enjoyable than several of Kurosawa's other pictures (which is, admittedly, a pretty high standard), and as a result "Rashômon" is more a film to respect and admire than one to enjoy and take pleasure from.
They can't tell the truth, even to themselves."Rashomon was the first film from critically acclaimed Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, that I got to see.
It focuses on the lies we tell, our selfish desires, and our pursuit or need to believe in the goodness of humanity (reflected through the Priest in this film), but ultimately it plays down to discovering that sometimes reality is just a matter of perception and differing point of views.
I can see the influence the director has had in modern films like Vantage Point or The Usual Suspects, but despite that I had a difficult time carrying about this movie.
There is no favouritism between the three parties, and all are giving 100% believable performance when they retell their stories, including minor pieces of exposition which lend credence to their tales yet further.We are consistently cutting back to the commoner who's actually pretty funny and worldly, who offers a simple, unpretentious counter to the more philosophical world-view that Kurosawa is trying to explore.
And we see that in Rashomon's long shots during which there is absolutely nothing going on.As far as acting is concerned, let's just say that Toshiro Mifune's delivery is too theatrical even for the time of movie's creation.There might be a discussion on various levels about Rashomon, but the bottom line is that it's an overrated piece of cinema..
Kurosawa's magic film is a composite of 2 Japanese short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa: One, "Rashomon," the title tells of a confrontation of a young man at Rashomon, the large, fortified gate at one entrance to Kyoto where people would abandon children and corpses; the other, yabu no naka ni, "In a Grove," tells of the confrontation between the bandit, the samurai and his wife, told from the point of view of the woodcutter.
As for the scene where the husband's spectre tells the story, what other way in 11th century Japan would a court have believed they could gather all possible testimony when every survivor's account is drastically different?Kurosawa had to extemporize with sparse assets to bring it to the screen, but if anything, clenching the money clip perhaps resulted in a better film.
Essentially, Akira Kurosawa's unmatched classic is about gaining an understanding; the film's first conversation introduces characters who "don't understand" and are looking for answers, this is opening the primary theme.Personally, Rashômon has forever been favourite of Kurosawa's directional works.
Establishing a verdict on the heinous crime centred upon in Rashômon is as much an ordeal as the crime itself because it proves to be an incident which provokes moral questioning and fierce debate.The film-making techniques used in Rashomon gave birth to a distinct style that Kurosawa was prepared to develop further in his later works, which can be seen in films such as Yojimbo and Shichinin no samurai.
A samurai was found dead, and the circumstances surrounding his death are shown from four conflicting points of view.I'm pretty sure no matter how many times you watch this film, Akira Kurosawa never gives enough information in the movie to figure out the truth about what took place on the day of the samurai's death.But without trying to look too deeply into what this film is about , i feel "Rashomon" is about searching for some kind of absolute truthit's about how differently people perceive the same external event.Do i feel this film deserves the status it quite clearly has in movie making history ?
Quite clearly this is the first time the same story is told from the point of view of more than one person and that has spurned countless classic movies and for that it deserves it's place in history but as a film in it's own right it just didn't do it for me.Some of the overacting annoyed me .
While some of Kurosawa's fans might agree to the exact order, they will also acknowledge that many other films are nearly as good or better (such as THRONE OF BLOOD, THE SEVEN SAMURAI, YOJIMBO, and many others--along with is wonderful NON-samurai movies such as HIGH AND LOW, IKURU and SCANDAL).The story itself is extremely creative, as it tells the same story three different times all through the eyes of three different characters.
It really helps to interact with the story.Lies are also a large theme of the film with the Woodcutter at the beginning stating that people are being deceitful and that this is what he doesn't understand but it turns out that in fact he could be the one being deceitful all along.There is a lot in this movie that has and will go on to influence others.
Compared to some all time classics this is a better story but I just wonder that if this film was re-made today with better cameras, acting, locations and editing would it still get the same response and knowing some of the critics of today then no it wouldn't it would be slated for all the reasons this should have been but wasn't.
However, since Kurosawa is one of those "untouchables," meaning the critics always rave about anything the guy does (a la Bergman, Hitchcock, etc.) this movie gets great reviews.This is very slow moving, way too repetitive and extremely boring, even with the short playing time.
Overrated.Before Seven Samurai there was Rashomon, the movie which brought Akira Kurosawa, and Japanese cinema, to the attention of Western audiences.
When another guy arrives, they recount the whole story to him, following which the incident concerning a heinous crime is revisited many times and is told from the perspective of all the eye-witnesses, each contradicting the other.Co-written & directed by Akira Kurosawa, Rashômon is crafted with a clever eye and is masterly layered to keep the viewers invested.
Mifune plays a bandit with kinetic flair while Mori & Kyō are in as the samurai & wife respectively and both do a brilliant job in their given roles, especially the latter.On an overall scale, Rashômon is a fascinating examination of human nature, the subjective nature of truth, and the shift in reality when any particular event is approached from a different paradigm.
i have seen kurosawa's Seven Samurai and I think it is a great movie, at least from direction point of view it was superb plus some great acting.
I mean this is a drama movie involving 3 main characters and very limited freedom for director as far as visuals are concerned, since the movie repeats same story 4 times from different perspectives.
Earlier this evening, I had the great pleasure to watch Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece "Rashomon." A disturbing film examining the nature of truth and the human ego, "Rashomon" arrives at a conclusion that there still are good people out there, even if deception and lies are about to become the norm.
(To this end, "Rashomon" might just be the most realistic character study ever made.) Based on the short stories "In a Grove" and "Rashomon" by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Kurosawa's picture is set in the aftermath of a heinous and brutal crime: a samurai has been murdered, and his wife raped.
The style of the storytelling, with all the flashbacks and restructured scenes, is really an essential part of the tale itself (based on a story by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, taken from his Rashomon collection) but Kurosawa can be credited with bringing a good few new ideas and crazy tricks to the cinema with this monster hit classic.
"Rashomon" was one of Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces, as the film features an ingenious narrative structure, excellent acting and a musing exploration into the fine line that separates perception from reality.
Based on a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon is one of Akira Kurosawa's biggest films and the breakthrough film that brought him and Japanese cinema in general to Western audiences.
If you like Asian movies, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is a definite must-see because it is not only an overall great film but also the first Japanese film that became an international success, a classic that started it all.
and i must confess that i have become his ardent fan...his style of movie making is so grass root,so natural,so immaculate!!this movie is a thriller and also has a deep psychological meaning!two gruesome crimes- a rape and a murder has taken place and four people give four contradictory accounts of the events taken place that day!if it would have been any other director the whole movie would have been left in suspense of knowing what is the 'truth',but Kurosawa didn't show us the truth..and herein lies the essence of the movie ....;the point is not to decipher the truth from the facts given but rather to see how the facts has been twisted by each witness to lie to themselves that they are not guilty!!and this is the thing that is to be learned from this movie...that we subconsciously twist facts to suit ourselves!!the movie may be repulsive to some new movie watchers..i would not recommend it to them!but for all cinema lovers its a MUST WATCH10/10.
All that being said, Rashomon, for me, boils down to this: it was the first time in either film or television that the audience was presented with different versions of the same set of events.
WOW.Could be Akira Kurosawa´s second best film.The best film he has done is "The Seven Samurai".This film was a masterpiece.It´s about a man is murdered and his wife is raped by a bandit.Kurosawa uses a fantastic flashback technique to tell four different versions of what happened.The way the film tells the story is so masterful(It´s both poetic,beautiful and has many dramatic action scenes).The acting is brilliant and Toshiro Mifune gives one of his best performances ever.Also the music is great.A masterpiece that is one of Kurosawa´s best films and He is one of the best directors ever.5/5.
Shirking traditional narrative structure in a manner that would later inspire such films as 'The Usual Suspects' and to a lesser extent 'Go' and 'Run Lola Run', 'Rashomon' has the same story (of banditry, rape and murder) told from several different perspectives, all conflicting and causing the viewer to constantly reassess each character.
If there is indeed something we can call the truth.This Akira Kurosawa movie from 1950 was a breakthrough film not just for the great master but for Japanese cinema abroad.
It is a great film, that 65 years after it was made, has stood the test of time.It is a very stylized movie, full of non naturalistic, over the top performances (seemingly influenced by the Japanese theatrical traditions of Kabuki and Noh), especially by Toshiro Mifune as the bandit, and the beautiful Machiko Kyo's as the Samurai's wife.
As this is my second movie from his works, "Rashomon" received a critical response by many people because the story was so different from other films and stories.
For movie-lovers, especially cult-classics, "Rashomon" became one of the influents with a new innovation at the time.The plot is so simple: "a heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view." There is nothing special and it's normal for films today.
Before Seven Samurai there was Rashomon, the movie which brought Akira Kurosawa, and Japanese cinema, to the attention of Western audiences.
Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon for the time would had looked like an experimental film about unreliable narrators and recounting an incident through different viewpoints and flashbacks.In 17th century feudal Japan, some men take shelter from the rain they discuss a murder which took place recently.
The husband does battle with him and is killed with his body discovered by the woodcutter.At the bandit's trial, all the witnesses which includes the victim speaking through a medium give different accounts of what actually happened that day, a lot of it is contradictory.The film shot in black and white is far from the historical sagas the director was known for, it is a simple story with a small cast that leaves you flummoxed with the different perspectives regarding the murder.
It's a mystery-tale playing like a crime-novel told through five different point-of-views and outplaying on three locations (the Rashomon-house, in the forest, and in court), and the film shows the relativity of truth.
As the story begins to unfold, the next obvious thing we notice is the innovative premise of the film, now known in academic circles as the "Rashomon effect", where several witnesses give different interpretations of what happened at a scene.The best performance in the movie was definitely from Toshiro Mifune in one of his first major roles.
Rashomon backtracks over itself many times in order to tell the story as different characters had seen it happen.
My vote for the best actor, however, has to go to Machiko Kyo, who competently takes on a different personality in each version of the story.While some people find it hard to watch classic movies such as this, I recommend that you see this at least once.
Rashomon is the story of a heinous crime told through the views of different characters that were involved with it.A few years ago a buddy of mine told me about a movie that I had to see.
After watching Rashomon, by Akira Kurosawa  same director as Seven Samurai, I must say that I'm intrigued to see his other work now.Not only is his directing and scenery like what we are use to seeing in movies today, he is the pioneer of this.