RASHOMON (1950)

Reviewing a film of this reputation gives me the jitters. But since all critical opinion is subjective, here goes.

A powerful film, this, about the edges of morality and the obsessive need human beings have of being the star of the story, of being in control, never mind the consequences. This is the first Kurosawa film I have seen, and this one made me want to see more. Visually, the film was stark and beautiful. I loved Kurosawa's ability to spread out his actors across both foreground and background, so that often we see more characters on screen simultaneously than we otherwise would. With him, even the close-up is a panoramic shot. The scene of the medium with her windblown clothes flying all around was bewitching in its opulence.

Kurosawa's camera movement across uneven forest floors also stuns me. Was a Steadicam available to him back then? If not, how did he shoot all those scenes of people running down slopes and of all those terrifically realistic swordfights? His camera is dynamic and energetic here and even when still, seems to carry a kinetic power, as if waiting on coiled springs to run loose.

The acting is uniformly good (and in the case of Toshiro Mifune, it is magnificent), except for my usual complaints with the slightly theatrical exaggerated quality of the Japanese acting tradition, but then I cannot complain about a film following its cinematic traditions. The screenplay, with its clashing points of view, has often been acknowledged as one of the most influential of all time, and indeed it works on many levels, exposing unpleasant truths about human psychology.

I could go on and on about the metaphors in the film (how the priest is like the good angel, and the commoner a devil, and the woodcutter a dithering human unsure of his own moral ground and full of hypocrisy and inconsistencies), but that's all been done so many times before, whatever I say is redundant.

The screenplay, although visionary and unique, suffers from the drawback that there is no emotional anchor at its centre. There is no constant frame of reference. While this may add to the film’s edgy appeal, it also prevents the viewer from making an emotional connection with any of the characters. No one remains constant. The character of all the characters change, their loyalties change, their actions are always under suspicion, and as such, we are never sure where we stand in this matter. In scenes like where the bandit approaches the helpless crawling samurai, with a sword in his hand, we were supposed to feel dread and fear, but since we have no idea who these characters really are, our emotional response is stunted. Another drawback was the over-extended soliloquy of the medium. Frankly, I was bored during the poetic description of the moving clouds.

Despite these minor drawbacks, RASHOMON is an excellent film, entertaining, visually and aurally magnificent, poking and prodding around the nether regions of the human psyche. 

8.0/10 for me.