Through ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife in this Kurosawa classic. Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, "Rashomon" is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.
A fascinating look at the subjectivity of the human experience, as the film explores the differing flashbacks of people who experienced the exact same event. The film questions what is "true" and the objectivity of the camera through these flashbacks, and while it is not one of my favorite films narrative-wise, I think it does something really interesting and innovative around these themes of perspective and justice.
Today, nearly fifty years after it was made, Rashomon has lost none of its fascination or power. It's still a marvelous piece of cinema that asks unanswerable questions of great import.
Every element in the film, from the dense thicket of forest branches to master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa's deceptive framing and lighting design, is precisely calibrated to make the facts more difficult to discern.
WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?
A fascinating look at the subjectivity of the human experience, as the film explores the differing flashbacks of people who experienced the exact same event. The film questions what is "true" and the objectivity of the camera through these flashbacks, and while it is not one of my favorite films narrative-wise, I think it does something really interesting and innovative around these themes of perspective and justice.
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