Kurosawa's, "Rashomon"

Matthew Britt
12/19/10
Rashomon
Japanese
Akira Kurosawa
Crime-Mystery
Won the "Golden Lion" at the Venice Film Festival

Rashomon is certainly an intellectually-stimulating film. I was really impressed with Kurosawa's utilization of the different point's of view throughout the film. I felt that this really made the film interesting and fun to follow. It was interesting to realize that the director only used a few different location's in the filming. The overall approach of the film was very minimalistic and it was impressive in that sense, because Kurosawa's talent for building a strong story that can stand on it's own is very evident. I thought the idea of contrasting the  perspectives from each person who told their version of the story was very original, and really made me think of what Kurosawa was trying to say with this film. It's obvious that he's interested in how people deal with the truth, and how they create their own truth's, or recollection's of what happened, to protect themselves. Kurosawa is clearly analyzing morality and honesty, and how different people deal with these things. Perhaps the reason why Rashomon is so timeless, is because these are universal issues.

In Jeanne Lombardo's article "Japanese Film Greats-Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon" Lombardo focuses on Kurosawa's innovative filming techniques, and points out recurring shots in the film that are symbolic. Lombardo notes how- "Kurosawa’s repeated shots of the sun seem to hint at the underlying truth of things, bright as sunlight but hidden by the leaves of self-interest and self-preservation and seen only fleetingly" -Lombardo. This observation really helped me appreciate Kurosawa's talents as a director due to his complete reliance on a shot itself, without any dialogue or hints at what the recurrence of the sun might mean, to get a point across. That is, in my opinion, true art. Roger Ebert's review of Rashomon discusses the importance and influence of the film on cinema. Ebert emphasizes the theme of the film, being the subjectivity of truth, and provides insightful background of the film, and how many people in the business were reluctant towards the film, such as the head of the studio in which the film was produced, who "had his name removed from the credits". All this points to the groundbreaking quality of the film, and the fact that Kurosawa was taking a risk by creating such a film.

Lombardo's article talks about the films opening scene, being "set to the incessant drumming of the rain". I think choosing to begin the movie with this particular scene is a testament to Kurosawa's genius film making abilities. Right away, I was lured into the movie, and I believe this scene ultimately captures the atmosphere of the whole film. In his review of the film, Ebert mentions how "when it was released, nobody had ever seen anything like it". The interesting thing is, even through my 21st century film-viewing perspective I understand this, because I have never really seen anything like this movie myself. The fact that the movie is done in such a minimalistic manner and is able to give off such a profound and deep message is amazing to me. This confirms Kurosawa's abilities to create such a deep and penetrating work of art while utilizing so few resources.

I loved the fact that the film was silent because I always believe silence leaves room for more interpretation and adds an interesting dimension to the film. The silence creates a certain atmosphere which goes beautifully with the film. It's clear that Kurosawa has an appreciation for presenting a story in such a way that is "bare", meaning that it stays minimal in its presentation and leaves plenty of room for the audience to interperate their own meanings and feelings towards the film. The low budget and eerie tension that runs throughout the film is absolutely necessary for this film to come through as strongly as it does; such as the lighting, and use of just a few location's. It's also clear that Kurosawa has an immense appreciation for literature, and story-telling. The minimalistic filming approach to me is beautiful. I feel like by having a somewhat "stripped down" approach, like Kurosawa had with this film, really puts emphasis on the power of an image; or shot.