Rashomon (1950)

This movie trying to show truth is relative. There is an incident occurred and there were some witnesses of that incident, each narrate the story from their point of views. The outcome the story is identical however each narrator saw it differently.One of the interesting part of the movie there is no interrogator shows in the movie. The questions are repeated by the witnesses and answered accordingly to keep the story intact from the interrogator's characteristic.I categorized this movie under philosophical genera. It shed light on human being nature and how they think and interpret their surround. The human nature is to look for truth and yet they alter the fact to be able to leave with it in a way or another.

You know - When it comes to the likes of 1950's Japanese cinema - I, for one, would much sooner watch a hilariously clumsy "Godzilla" picture rather than endure this absurd, dry-as-dust "Art House" nonsense, any day.And, speaking about the phrase "Art House" - That, to me, is just a hoity-toity term that excuses all sorts of annoying inadequacies in a picture which would otherwise not be tolerated (in a non-"Art House" production).This irksome term also suggests to me that if one dislikes a film that fits into this snobbishly elitist category that that automatically reduces them to being nothing but an unsophisticated heathen. It's true.Anyway - With Rashomon now being nearly 70 years old - I really did try to cut it some slack. But - Let me tell ya - Had this film been an American production - You can bet that it wouldn't be receiving all of the praise and reverence that it has garnered for itself over these many, long years. Nope. You can bet your bottom yen on that.

Maybe 60 long years back this film was a masterpiece. But I watched it in 2017, I frankly did not find anything extraordinary. Even for the styles of 1950s, this film does not seemed as a movie of great content to me.The main reason the movie was mediocre is the story. The story was about mystery but they hyped it as it was a great mystery which baffled the characters of the film. But actually the mystery was stale and unappealing. In every version of the story the final outcome stays the same and there was not much variation between stories.In my opinion it was an average film, does not deserve this high ratings. If you did not watched it yet then do not feel obligated to watch it.

There can be no doubt about the technical skill of legendary director Kurosawa. The structural creativity of the writing is also impressive.The eleventh film directed by Kurosawa (excepting co-directed "Uma" and "Asu o tsukuru hitobito"), Rashômon (1950) is by many critics considered Kurosawa's first masterpiece. While I can see why the theme and structure of the narrative was groundbreaking when the film premiered, I'm sorry to say that, after my first viewing, I was not really caught by the story or the way it was told. What I really appreciate, however, is the great camera-work, the beautiful black-and-white photography (by Kazuo Miyagawa) and the iconic music (composed by Fumio Hayasaka).