Rashômon (1950)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryunosuke Akutagawa (stories)
Akira Kurosawa (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 December 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Truth | Japan | Samurai | Forest | Psychic

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Ryunosuke Akutagawa		(stories Rashomon and In a Grove)
Akira Kurosawa		(writer) &
Shinobu Hashimoto		(writer)

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
Tokuzo Tanaka	....	assistant director
Mitsuo Wakasugi	....	assistant director

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

Production Companies

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (as Daiei Eiga)

Distributors

• Daiei Motion Picture Company (1950) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Kadokawa Pictures (2008) (Japan) (theatrical) (restored version)
• Kadokawa Entertainment (2009) (Japan) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• 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)
• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1953) (Sweden) (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 (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)

Other Companies

• Daiei Studios  studio
• Lowry Digital Images  restoration: 2008

Also Known As:

Rashomon (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
Rashou-mon (Japan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Nara, Japan

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Trivia:

During shooting, the cast approached Kurosawa en masse with the script and asked him, "What does it mean?" The answer Kurosawa gave at that time and also in his biography is that "Rashomon" is a reflection of life, and life does not always have clear meanings.

Quotes:

Commoner: It's human to lie. Most of the time we can't even be honest with ourselves.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Severance' (2007) (V)

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.