Rashomon

Rashomon (1950) is a film directed by Japan's most famous film-maker Akira Kurosawa. The theme of the film is that of relative truth or relative reality. Basically it is the narration of a particular incident from the view-point of 5 people.

Two persons (a woodcutter and a priest) are sitting inside a building (a dilapidated temple) waiting for the incessant rain outside to stop. They are both pondering about an incident which took place recently. Another person (a commoner) joins them inside the building to whom the woodcutter and the priest give their versions of what essentially is the murder of a Japanese Samurai, and , the rape of his wife by a notorious bandit named Tajomaru.

While the woodcutter and the priest first give their account of what they found, the woodcutter then goes on to give the versions of the incident as spoken by different people during the court inquest. Those people are the bandit, the police (actually a law keeper) who found the bandit later, the Samurai's wife and then the spirit of the murdered Samurai. While these are multi first-person narratives of the incident, they are essentially stories within a story (the narration of the woodcutter to the commoner).

After narrating all the above versions, the woodcutter then proceeds on to say that what he told as his version isn't exactly what happened. He then proceeds to narrate what according to him is the real incident as he witnessed.

In all the versions, one common thing we find is the rape of the Samurai's wife and the death of the Samurai caused by a dagger/sword. The woodcutter maintains his stance that only what he has said finally to the commoner is correct and that all the other versions are false. He attributes it to the theory that all humans are selfish and look out only for things that benefit them. The priest meanwhile still keeps hope in the goodness of humanity.

Finally they hear the wailing of a baby. The commoner goes and takes away the kimono used to cover the baby and an amulet kept to protect it from evil. While the woodcutter rebukes him for this, the commoner shrewdly reminds him that he knows the woodcutter had stolen the dagger with which the Samurai was murdered. This silences the woodcutter and brings him to shame. The commoner then takes away the things and goes out with the rain still pouring.
The woodcutter then tries to take the baby away from the priest who holds it. The priest gets angry and asks whether he is so evil as to take even what little is left of the baby. The woodcutter then gives a sentimental explanation which cools down the priest who says that there is still goodness in humanity. The woodcutter takes leave of the priest and as he leaves the building (named "Rashmon") the rain ceases and the sky gets bright again reflecting a change in mindset among humans.

The movie is not a murder mystery as many would think. It is rather a film portraying the emotions of different kind of people through some great visuals and superb acting from the lead actors. Kurosawa has done an excellent job through the screenplay and camera work. Kazuo Miyagawa who is the cinematographer collaborated first with Kurosawa for this film and then went on to work with him for many other good films.

For people who wish to see cinema in its best artistic form this is a must-see. The DVD I bought had an audio commentary by Donald Ritchie, an American expert on Kurosawa films and listening to it gave some valuable insights on the subtleties adapted by Kurosawa in the making of this film.

The commoner according to noted Japanese film experts is the voice of the director. He is trying to make an inference from the different version he hears. The film is around 90 minutes long and some scenes (like the fight between the bandit and the Samurai) are prolonged to give it a realistic feel. The camera work (sun rays piercing through the forest trees) is excellent and praiseworthy. The editing is also excellent. Infact many noted film critics tell that Akira Kurosawa was a better editor than a director or screenplay writer and I completely second this opinion as regards this film.

Multiple first-person narratives were later adapted in Indian films, as in, 'Classmates' the Malayalam film starring Prithviraj, 'Virumaandi' a film by Kamal Haasan , 'Antha Naal' a murder mystery film involving the Late Shivaji Ganeshan. I wonder as to whether Padmarajan, that great director, would have done a film of such nature, had he not left us in his prime since mysticism(in some of his films) and open nature of the climaxes were something he always fascinated us with.

As for me, it was a welcome break from watching some crap flicks. It's always better to watch the masters in action! I have now decided to get the entire collection of Kurosawa and Satyajit Ray as I have taken a liking to their films now.