Rashomon Review

The film Rashomon is a relatively simple story about the recollections of four individuals who testify to a rape of a woman and a samurai’s murder. There’s the bandit (Tishorio Mifune), the samurai (Masayuki Mori), the samurai’ wife (Machiko Kyo), and the woodcutter (Takashi Shimura). Each of their own perspective is told through flashback, and leads the viewer down a path of wonder and keen interest. When the film draws to a close, the plot does not resolve itself. We do not know who is telling the truth. Nor do we know the fate of the accused bandit and the helpless widow. It is entirely up to the viewer to decide which character is telling the truth (if they even are). That’s the beauty of this film. I have my own theory of what happened, but another viewer may not agree with me. That’s the lesson director Akira Kurosawa successfully makes with this film. Every person has his or her own perspective. As a result, each individual will see something different within this movie.

Unlike some of Kurosawa’s later work like The Seven Samurai or The Hidden Fortress, Rashomon is not a fast-paced movie. Much of the slow pace has to deal with Kurosawa’s famous use of the long take. There are many shots in which the camera lingers on one character as he or she delivers some form of action. One scene that comes to mind is when the bandit is shown killing the samurai. As he slowly creeps towards his victim, the camera tracks him until he makes his final deathblow. Some may argue that the long take, especially in this scene, draws out the action much longer than necessary. In my opinion, it works very well. The purpose of this use of the long take is to emphasis the tension and intensity that the bandit experiences right before he murders the samurai. His gritted teeth and bulged eyes show that he is not very accustomed to murder, despite his profession as a thief.

The acting is pretty thorough when it comes to Tishorio Mifune and Masayuki Mori. Mifune is an icon for exaggerated emotion. His over the top, devilish laugh, and his intense facial expressions work perfect for him as the merciless bandit. Masayuki Mori is subtler as the samurai. He does not have many lines, but much of his accomplishment derives from his facial expressions. This is particularly noteworthy when he watches as his wife is violated before his eyes. There is such an anger and passion in his face during this scene that it borders on frightening. I was not impressed with Machiko Kyo as the samurai’s wife. This is very apparent when she taunts both the bandit and the samurai as being weak. Her constant screeches and ridiculous laughter in this scene was enough to make me feel nauseated. Takashi Shimura as the woodcutter did not do much for me either. He merely told his side of the story and adopted an abandoned infant at the end of the film.

A bigger problem I had with this movie is the fight scenes. I understand that this film was made sixty years ago, but more money needed to be spent on the choreography. It is lame to watch as both a bandit and a samurai constantly fall over during a duel as well as throw leaves at one another as a means of fighting.

In my concluding opinion, Rashomon is a decent movie. It is not for the average audience, for there is little action and even less humor. This is movie is not meant to be popcorn-loving entertainment. It is meant to make the audience think about the plot’s ambiguity and decide for themselves what is true and false.