Rashomon is the movie that made Akira Kurosawa famous in the United States, and is certainly one of the best movies I have ever seen. The premise is simple--a bandit encounters a man and his wife traveling, rapes the wife, and murders her husband. Or does he? We get to see the same event from three different points of view, plus that of a by-stander who arguably has an objective viewpoint. We're then left to decide--who is right? Who is reliable and under what circumstances?
It seems a little dry in concept, except for the fact that the different versions of the story seem to reveal more and more about human nature as they go along. The bandit, after all, we do not expect to be honest--he lies for a living. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the other versions are just as unreliable, just as encumbered with personal baggage. As a result, the tension grows by leaps and bounds, not just because we start to wonder about what really happened in the movie, but also because we wonder if our own perceptions of anything can be accurate.
I rarely give 10 stars to any movie, but this one is unusual because you may not be the same person after you watch it. Some other movies have that quality, but not many, and credit is due where credit is due.
It seems a little dry in concept, except for the fact that the different versions of the story seem to reveal more and more about human nature as they go along. The bandit, after all, we do not expect to be honest--he lies for a living. It soon becomes apparent, however, that the other versions are just as unreliable, just as encumbered with personal baggage. As a result, the tension grows by leaps and bounds, not just because we start to wonder about what really happened in the movie, but also because we wonder if our own perceptions of anything can be accurate.
I rarely give 10 stars to any movie, but this one is unusual because you may not be the same person after you watch it. Some other movies have that quality, but not many, and credit is due where credit is due.