Rashomon (1950)

The film that brought Japanese cinema to the world, this 88-minute firecracker proved a seminal assault on the notion of objectivity.

The word ‘Rashomon’ has passed into the English language to signify a narrative told from various, unreliable viewpoints. In this case, the mystery relates to the murder of a samurai and the rape of his wife in 11th century Japan, events which are relayed in wildly differing versions by those present: the bandit, the treacherous wife, a passing woodcutter and the spirit of the dead samurai.

This radically non-linear structure, with its profound implications about the fallibility of perspective, impressed judges at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. They awarded Akira Kurosawa’s film the Golden Lion, helping to encourage a broader interest in Japanese film in the west. With its snaking bolero-like score and poetic use of dappled forest light, Rashomon is a work of enduring ambiguity.

“What is the truth – the perceived, or the real? What is justice? And who decides? A story of a murder told from four different angles by four different people asks troubling questions of us.” Ranjita Biswas

“Probably the greatest testament to what film as an artform can do.” Johannes Lõhmus

“A film that single-handedly changed the way we perceive storytelling, its relationship with the visual medium and the narrative language of cinema itself. This is where the movies’ long love affair with the grammar of time started.” Rahul Desai

“It’s hard to think of a more perfect film about the focal role of storytelling in the construction of human society.” Vigen Galstyan

1950 Japan
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Produced by
Jinkichi Minoru, Sojiro Motoki
Written by
Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto
Featuring
Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Takashi Shimura
Running time
83 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Rashomon

Critics

Gulnara Abikeyeva
Kazakhstan
Raphael Abraham
UK
Oris Aigbokhaevbolo
Nigeria
Ian Aitken
Hong Kong
Sharofat Arabova
Tajikistan
John Berra
UK
Eddie Bertozzi
Italy
Ranjita Biswas
India
Anchalee Chaiworaporn
Thailand
Karen Chan
Singapore
V.K. Cherian
India
Anupama Chopra
India
Sangeeta Datta
India/UK
Maria Delgado
UK
Rahul Desai
India
Nenad Dukić
Serbia
Mirasol Enriquez
USA
Vigen Galstyan
Armenia
Aswathy Gopalakrishnan
India
Lisa Gotto
Austria
Roman Gutek
Poland
Fahmidul Haq
Bangladesh/USA
Andrew Heskins
UK
Carolyn Hinds
Canada/Barbados
Javier Ikaz
Spain
Nachman Ingber
Israel
Caryn James
USA
Thierry Jobin
Switzerland
François Jost
France
Goran Jovanović
Serbia
Robert Koehler
USA
Nino Kovačić
Croatia
Vassilis Kroustallis
Estonia
Blagoja Kunovski
North Macedonia
Johannes Lõhmus
Estonia
Yevgeny Margolit
Russia
Tom McSorley
Canada
Khalid Mohamed
India
Nashen Moodley
Australia
Raya Morag
Israel
Bogdan Movileanu
Romania
Amitava Nag
India
Venkateswaran Narayanan
India
Carrie Rickey
USA
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Canada
Yal Sadat
France
Peeter Sauter
Estonia
Michael Sragow
USA
Mira Staleva
Bulgaria
Christina Stojanova
Bulgaria/Canada
Gulbara Tolomushova
Kyrgyzstan
Madeleine Wall
Canada

Directors

Roy Andersson
Clio Barnard
UK
Kenneth Branagh
UK
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
India
Robert Connolly
Australia
Roger Corman
Yinan Diao
China
Edwin Edwin
Indonesia
Asghar Farhadi
Iran
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
India
Isamu Hirabayashi
Japan
Annemarie Jacir
Palestine
Neil Jordan
Ireland
Bart Layton
UK
Shahram Mokri
Iran
John Paizs
Canada
Sumitra Peries
Sri Lanka
Raymond Red
Philippines
Kivu Ruhorahoza
Rwanda
Aparna Sen
India
Małgorzata Szumowska
Poland
Chaitanya Tamhane
India
Lindsey Vickers
UK
Fatma Zohra Zamoum
Algeria/France

Articles related to Rashomon

From the Sight and Sound archive

Rashomon reviewed in 1952

By Simon Harcourt-Smith

Rashomon reviewed in 1952
Features

The Rashomon effect: a new look at Akira Kurosawa’s cinematic milestone of post-truth

By Jasper Sharp

The Rashomon effect: a new look at Akira Kurosawa’s cinematic milestone of post-truth
The Greatest Films of All Time

The Greatest Films of All Time

The Greatest Films of All Time
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