Akira Kurosawa has been described as one of Japan's most accessible directors for the Western audience and this is often quoted as one of his finest hours, along with the more famous Seven Samurai. In my opinion it is vastly overrated.
Admittedly, it is a fascinating premise that drives Rashômon. Shirking traditional narrative structure in a manner that would later inspire such films as The Usual Suspects and to a lesser extent Go and Run Lola Run, Rashômon has the same story (of banditry, rape and murder) told from several different perspectives, all conflicting and causing the viewer to constantly reassess each character.
However the potential of this concept is completely undermined by some truly unfathomable motives on the part of the main protagonists. Some of their actions are completely inexplicable and this isn't helped by some woeful overacting by Toshirô Mifune and Machiko Kyô. The whole plot spirals further into the preposterous and then suddenly becomes a debate about the twisting of truth driven by motive that, like the monk's character, was unnecessarily preachy. A special mention must be reserved for the sword fights which are some of the msot amateurish ever filmed.
This could have been terrific if the storyline ahd remained sensible; thankfully the one thing the film has going for it, the structure, has been salvaged by the movie world so it is not a total waste. |
