Product Description

The murder of a man and the rape of his wife in a forest grove seem from four different perspectives. Toshiro Mifune explodes as the feral bandit who may or may not be guilty of these crimes in Akira Kurosawa's meditation on the nature of truth a classic, humane allegory that transformed narrative cinema as we know it and turned its director into an international sensation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24818 in DVD
• Brand: RASHOMON (DVD MOVIE)
• Released on: 2008-09-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Original language: Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 88 minutes

Review
An artistic achievement of such distinct character that it is difficult to estimate it alongside conventional story films. --New York Times

Customer Reviews

What happened -- and what didn't
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.

And that's the basic plot of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon," a hauntingly pessimistic look at how the "truth" can be warped and changed by different people's perspectives. It's a magnificently eerie piece of work, filled with suspense and some really astounding acting -- particularly from Toshiro Mifune as a laughing bandit.

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 had 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, whom she says she stabbed. 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. But 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).

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. The illusions and innocence of the young priest are stripped away, yet the knowledge of how despicable people can be is tempered with the knowledge that "real" truth isn't necessary to have goodness.

And Kurosawa's directorial skill is no less striking -- light and shadow whirl and dance in a frankly beautiful woodland setting, serving as a pretty backdrop for some very ugly acts. 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.

And the masterful fight scenes deserve an extra shout-out -- they reflect the person telling the story. Tajomaru's are more stylized and choreographed, while the woodcutter just sees two freaked-out guys rolling and staggering with swords.

Toshirô Mifune chews the scenery with gusto as the barbarian bandit, especially with that crazy hyena laugh. Machiko Kyô initially seems to be overacting, until you see how unhinged her character has become, and Masayuki Mori does a pretty solid job for a guy tied to a tree. 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, brilliantly crafted and exceptionally directed. And that's the truth.

Brilliant
This is a brilliantly told and acted film. And it leaves you thinking about what really happened, long after the film has ended. Kurosawa was a master and this film is a good reason why. I highly recommend it.

Very Bad Movie
If you are interested in film history, you might find this movie interesting since it is directed by Legendary director Kurosawa. If, however, you want to watch a good movie, then you should skip this, because this is absolutely one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

The movie starts out with 3 bums seeking shelter from a downpour in a ruined temple. One of the bums tells the story of a murder victim he found and the resulting inquest. In his story, he tells of the 3 people involved in the crime: the bandit who is suspected of the murder; the woman the bandit rapes; and her husband, the murder victim. Each person tells their own version of events, including the murder victim who tells the story through a medium. Each version differs greatly.

The problem with this movie is that it is boring, the plot is completely not interesting in the least, the acting is absolutely over-the-top atrocious, and none of the characters is even remotely likeable.

And the fight scenes! Oh my. It's like watching mentally disabled people trying to whack each other with sticks after drinking a fifth of whiskey. Falling, tripping, clumsily grappling and missing, and flailing around in the dirt like spastic monkeys.

And while Kurosawa may indeed be a legend, I have to wonder why in the world he chose to do some of the things he did in this film. For example, when the bum begins to tell his tale, he says he was walking through the forest to cut some wood. The scene then cuts to a backflash of the bum walking through the woods. This walking-through-the-woods scene goes on FOREVER. It's just the bum ... walking through the woods ... from 1000 different angles ... while incredibly annoying drum music is playing in the background. And that's all there is: bum, woods, walking, and drums, and it lasts a ridiculously long time. If that is an example of what good directing is, I'd hate to see what qualifies as bad directing.

To sum up: I've seen Star Trek movies that are more artistic and more skillfully executed than this abysmal waste of 2 hours. You've been warned.