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| RASHOMON. Starring - Toshiro Mifune - Machiko Kyo - Masayuki Mori - Takashi Shimura. Director - Akira Kurosawa. 1950. 1 Film two reviews, what more could you ask for? Review Geeky Marcus. "Rashomon" is, and will continue to be, hailed as one of the most important movies in the history of cinema. But then, is the most important movie necessarily a great movie? I can easily churn up a review raving about how groundbreaking it is to shoot a story in four versions to bring out these big messages about how "truth" is often subjective and prone to manipulation. Actually, isn't that what you read in every single review on this movie? Seriously, do we need a movie to tell us these things? If you do, then you are a big dumbfucker with your head up your ass. "Rashomon" is about a murder recalled by four persons in four different versions. There are a set of agreed facts, like this guy is killed because he thinks it is a good idea to dress up in real splendid clothes and have a stroll in a deserted woods with his beautiful wife (we will get to her later) on her expensive pony and when a guy shows up and says he has hidden some real nice swords nearby and can sell them to him at a cut-throat price, he actually buys that and follows the guy, leaving his wife and horse by themselves. It's kind of like driving your new Ferrari to the Bronx with your girlfriend in a tube-top (let's assume she is hot) and when a druggie comes up and says, "Hey dude, I've got some nice crack a few blocks away and I can sell it to you for five bucks, why don't you leave your girl and car here and follow me?" you jump right off. So it's really a BIG surprise when this retard gets himself tied to a tree and is forced to watch the guy rape his wife right in front of him. It's amazing how this part of the story is not disputed, apparently everyone agrees this guy is dumb enough to let these things happen. The differences only arise from the point right after the rapist finishes banging the wife (who for some reason remains fully dressed). We never know what happens after that and how the husband was killed, we can only guess from the four versions told before the local governor respectively by the wife (Machiko Kyo), the rapist (who's "busted," played by Toshiro Mifune), the dead husband through a witch (seriously) and finally the bald guy from "Seven Samurai" (Takashi Shimura), who happens to be near the scene at the time. So, it's all about who killed this guy and why. It also raises some questions about the other characters, such as: when the guy did the old in-out in-out, did the wife scream "No!" or "Yippee!"? Did the husband die in honor or shame? Did the rapist fight the husband like a man or did he not? You may or may not learn the answers by the end of the film, but one thing is for sure: if you want to sound movie savvy in front of your friends, you can tell them that this movie is about "how dishonesty and selfishness are part of human nature and why we should not take things at face value" If you are worried you may miss the message, don't panic, the characters repeat it like once every ten seconds. It's a real important life lesson, you see. While this movie runs just under ninety minutes, it feels very much like a short stretched into a full-length feature. The pace is okay (although one of the opening scenes features the bald guy walking for like five weeks in the woods), but it feels like there is just enough material to sustain a feature film. It's really just a simple story, and let's face it, it's pretty predictable. There are of course these discrepancies between the testimonies and there are hints which suggest somebody is lying, the thing is, we have seen enough of this shit for the past fifty years you need to be mental to think there is anything smart about it. The ending, in particular, is so heavy-handed I felt like laughing. Seriously, they can use that part in Sunday school. The acting is okay, I guess. Was Toshiro Mifune acting? Do you call it acting when the guy only needs to go "HAHA, HAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHA, HAHAHAHAHAHA" once every five minutes? If yes, then yeah, he's fucking genius. For the wife, I think we deserve somebody hotter, and preferably with eyebrows. Like Nanako Matsushima. So, do I sound like I hate this movie? Actually no, it's made in 1950 for Christ's sake. If it's flawless then I think at this rate, the film industry will be over by 2010. I do recognize the importance of this movie, but I will be fucking lying if I tell you I was enlightened by it, let alone entertained. And if you come across these dorks discussing the meaning of this movie endlessly in discussion forums again, you know, like they do all the time, laugh at them. It's fun! 5*****stars. © 2003 Geeky Marcus. NATURAL BORN VIEWERS. ********************************************************************** REVIEW SINOMATICTOOL. Rashomon is an innovative film that at its time was charting unknown lands. The film's construction was complex in line with Citizen Kane. A murder and a rape take place in an empty jungle area and the story is told from four different viewpoints. But which view points are real, which are exaggerated and which are the truth is all left up to you to figure out as little details are added to each view. Akira Kurosawa out did this film with his later Seven Samurai but this film although not his best remains one the great classics reminding us of the tricks directors were pulling a half a century ago. Uneven storytelling did not begin with Lynch or Nolan it began with one of the founders of modern cinema Akira Kurosawa in this film here. Kurosawa with this film helped the west recognise oriental cinema and should be respected by any modern Asian filmmakers today. This act of showing the same scene through four people’s ideas of how it happened is an exploration into the philosophy of the nature of truth. People's stories don’t agree but who is right? Who is wrong? Can you trust their stories as truth? Yet it isn’t even as simple as they are lying to let themselves off the hook. As characters delve into confessing to the crime themselves. Offering an even more complex study than what was introduced. This though is much thought and for more of an entertainment idea... The same story told four times would come across as a drag. But this film is not tripe but a tour de force of emotion. Characters killing and robbing in heartless ways. They reject their own loves and sacrifice them for their own well being. The beautiful filming also helps it to be exciting. The images of sunlight peaking through thick brush and the shadows dancing on the jungle floor. The pacing is quick and fast as all four stories must fit into a thrilling 90 minutes, which they are and which it does. 9*********stars. |
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