ISMN: "Rashomon" (1950) Friday March 21st @ The SLC Condo
The art film series continues with Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (1950)
(Above: I love the new Criterion cover art)
I've only seen a small handful of Kurosawa films, I'd like to see more, but I imagine this would be the only one to fit the ISMN format, as it is the most unusual of his work and even includes slight fantasy elements.
A film that gave birth to the term "Rashomon Effect" in the courthouse, meaning several different conflicting stories to explaining the same event/crime.
A brilliant masterpiece from a masterful director
Author: MovieAddict2014 from UK
8 April 2006
"Rashomon" was Akira Kurosawa's first national hit (becoming, at the time, the highest-grossing foreign film in America) and even gained an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, but almost sixty years later it still hasn't lost any of its impact. It is widely revered as one of the most influential films of all-time, but unlike some other movies, it is not a film that feels dated. The revolutionary methods of Kurosawa are still effective and on-par with the cinema of today -- this isn't a movie where you say, "Yeah, fifty years ago it might have been different, but now it's done in all the movies." Kurosawa's techniques are still superior to most of his imitators.
5.0 out of 5 stars Kurasawa's game changer., January 29, 2014
JKC211 (Portland, OR USA)
This review is from: Rashomon (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Truly the beat film I saw in film school. This is the only movie (we watched hundreds of films that I would not ask anybody to sit through twice) and this was easily the one movie that exceeded all of my expectations. Everyone had varying reviews of which Kurasawa is the best but this is my pick. This changed the potential of what I thought a film could convey. The same story from multiple points of view was one of the greatest cinematic explorations that I have been prove lived enough to see. This style was groundbreaking upon release and despite the fact that many hit tv shows have attempted the story style none of them can hold a candle to the master.
5.0 out of 5 stars A prescient masterwork about "truth" and "justice", July 13, 2013
This review is from: Rashomon (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
What is a masterpiece?
That word gets used a lot to describe all kinds of things. Most of the claims for masterpieces are dubious at best. In my opinion, and the opinion of thousands of people who have watched Rashomon over the years, this film is a bona fide masterpiece. But even though thousands of people agree that this film is one of the very best ever made, does that mean that my opinion and the opinions of those thousands are true? No, it doesn't. We all are subjective humans prone to errors and biases, and "truth" is something that may be completely out of our grasp. Are we viewing truth or just a convincing illusion that everyone agrees on? This is one of the many questions that Rashomon poses.
If we try to be as objective as we can and at least form criteria to judge this film a masterpiece, we could check off some of these questions as yes or no.
Does this film really make you think? Yes. In fact, it forces you to think. After all, as the viewer, you're trying to figure out who murdered and raped somebody.
Does this film have truly stunning cinematography and camerawork? Yes, some of the best ever. Especially for a film released in 1950.
Does this film have incredible actors in it? Yes, Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura are both in this film, two of the very best actors you'll come across.
Is this film directed exceptionably? Yes, Akira Kurosawa. Enough said. This artist directed superb films like bees make honey.
Does this film actually have an "Effect" named after it? Yes, it does. Not many movies can say that.
Does this film continue to influence TV, movies, books, and even scientific research to this day? Yes, without a doubt. You've probably seen something or read something using Rashomon in some way, and you didn't know it.
I'll give a brief synopsis. A murder and rape occur out in the woods. Someone is accused of committing both crimes, and a trial is held. There are four "witnesses" who give their own accounts of what happened that day. The problem is that all of the accounts contradict each other in some way. Even after hearing the rape victim testify, you are not even convinced that a rape occurred because she says a lot of things that are self-serving and things already demonstrated to be false. What in the name of the Rashomon gate really happened? Which story is correct?
The unreliability of eyewitness testimony is now something firmly documented by science, but at the time Kurosawa made this film, it wasn't. In fact, eyewitness testimony was once considered the bedrock of the justice system, something unassailable and key to proving or disproving a case. Now, of course, we know that an eyewitness account is vulnerable to all sorts of things, most of which can't be avoided. People can view the same event happen, and not one person's account of what happened will completely match another. And people can be made to "see" things happen that they didn't actually witness, a fact born out by current research as well. The fallibility of human perception is now beyond dispute. So how can we know the "truth"?
As with all great art, this movie poses great questions that don't have easy answers, if there are any answers at all.
Did you see what you think you saw? Is your memory of an event accurate? We'd like to think so, but it is itself a human bias to fool ourselves with comforting illusions to protect our own egos. At least being aware that our brains aren't all they are made out to be can at least help us on the road to truth.
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Bonus Short Film: "Romance Sentimentale" (Sergei M. Eisenstein) 1930
A 1930’s precursor to MTV music videos! See one of Eisenstein’s experimental shorts about a woman singing romantically in Russian combined with overlapping cinematography and some odd special effects, waves and falling trees. Almost cartoony
From the director of "Que Viva Mexico!"
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Time: Friday March 21st @ 7:30 PM
Place: At the Condo in SLC (message me for the address)
Price: Free of course
Food and new friends welcome. No drugs, alcohol or smoking please.
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See you there!
-BC Sterrett
