Rashomon (1950) Rashômon (original title)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryûnosuke Akutagawa (stories)
Akira Kurosawa (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 December 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

The husband, the wife...or the bandit?

Plot:

A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view.

Plot Keywords:

Samurai | Trial | Priest | Murder | Truth

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Tajômaru
Machiko Kyô	...	Masako Kanazawa
Masayuki Mori	...	Takehiro Kanazawa
Takashi Shimura	...	Woodcutter
Minoru Chiaki	...	Priest
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Commoner
Noriko Honma	...	Medium
Daisuke Katô	...	Policeman

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Ryûnosuke Akutagawa		(stories Rashomon and In a Grove)
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay) and
Shinobu Hashimoto		(screenplay)

Produced by
Minoru Jingo	....	producer
Masaichi Nagata	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Fumio Hayasaka

Cinematography by
Kazuo Miyagawa

Film Editing by
Akira Kurosawa

Production Design by
Takashi Matsuyama

Set Decoration by
H. Motsumoto

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tokuzô Tanaka	....	assistant director
Mitsuo Wakasugi	....	assistant director

Visual Effects by
Aurelio x. Vera Jr.	....	restoration artist (restored version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fujiro Morita	....	assistant camera
Kenichi Okamoto	....	lighting technician

Other crew
François Vila	....	press agent

Production Companies

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (as Daiei Eiga)

Distributors

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (1950) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Kadokawa Pictures (2008) (Japan) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Jesnet (2009) (Japan) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Allianz Filmverleih (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Edward Harrison (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Janus Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (restoration)
• Los Films del Búho (1984) (Spain) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Sascha Filmverleih (1955) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1953) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2011) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Dolmen (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (video)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Sandrews (2003) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tocantins (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)
• trigon-film (2011) (Austria) (all media)
• trigon-film (2011) (Germany) (DVD) (HD restored)
• trigon-film (2011) (Germany) (all media)
• trigon-film (2011) (Switzerland) (DVD) (HD restored)
• trigon-film (2012) (Switzerland) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Daiei Studios  studio
• Lowry Digital Images  restoration: 2008

Also Known As:

"Rashômon" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 (cut) | Switzerland:14 | UK:12 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Daiei Tokyo Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Trivia:

In the wife's vision, the music used was only available during post-production. Akira Kurosawa and his editor was amazed when they found that the music corresponded almost perfectly with the action on the screen, and thus they didn't need to change the scene to make it match the music.

Quotes:

Priest:I don't want to hear it. No more horror stories.
Commoner:They are common stories these days. I even heard that the demon living here in Rashômon fled in fear of the ferocity of man.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Matter of Perspective (#3.14)" (1990)

A Technical & Creative Success

It's hard to tell just how striking "Rashômon" might have seemed to those who watched it in 1950, rather than seeing it after so many subsequent movies and other works have made use of its techniques and ideas. But it's clear that it is a technical and creative success. The story itself is not particularly satisfying, which was most likely by design, and the movie is carried by its structure and by the concept of the markedly different perspectives on the same series of events. The cast also deserve their share of credit for how well it works, and the photography is excellent, as it is in almost all of Kurosawa's films.

Kurosawa's expertise makes the interwoven sequences of past and present - essentially telling two different stories - not only work flawlessly, but fit together thematically. It's even more commendable when compared to some of the subsequent films that have tried to use similar ideas, only to come off as pretentious rather than creative or innovative. Kurosawa was also working with much less in terms of possible precedents.

In one sense, the choice of specific story material could seem a little odd.

The downbeat, rather sordid scenario makes the movie somewhat less enjoyable than several of Kurosawa's other pictures (which is, admittedly, a pretty high standard), and as a result "Rashômon" is more a film to respect and admire than one to enjoy and take pleasure from. Still, it does have significantly more substance to it than do most of the more recent pictures that have been deliberately downbeat or negative in their portrayals of humanity. Such stories are more trendy at present, and they often receive undue praise simply for so being.

At the same time, the lack of sympathetic characters and the paucity of hopeful developments bring out all the more its success in developing its ideas about narrative and about reality, ideas that are more fundamental and, in their way, perhaps at least as important as any specific story or events.