Rashomon

Year: 1950

Grade: A+

Country: Japan

Director: Kurosawa

Review

a beautiful film about the nature of truth, perspective, and human nature. it’s extremely dark and misanthropic, but in the final analysis it’s also hopeful. i’m like kurosawa in this regard. kubrick/thompson’s vision of humanity in paths of glory comes close in tone to rashomon, but that film is executed somewhat differently, though still has a trial format. in rashomon the audience is the jury as evidenced by the characters’ facing the camera while telling their version of he events. kurosawa plays with light throughout the film which works well considering a primary theme is truth. the music is also good, though not quite as good as the music in yojimbo. i also have to point out, again, that kurosawa’s manipulation of the weather is better than any director before or since. i don’t know how he did it, but rain and wind in his films seem more haunting, ominous and powerful than in any other film i’ve seen.