Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese film set in medieval Japan. It is about a trial where four contradicting testimonies are given. Although each testimony may be different each one has a central basis: a woman is raped by a bandit and her husband is murdered. While this is all going on three men are outside talking about the trial, when one of them, a woodcutter, recounts what he saw as well. By the end of the story, we get the theme. Throughout the film, you may not catch it, but by the end you will have a moment of realization and look back at the stories applying.
I'm going to be honest, I did not want to see it. The first 15 to 20 minutes are pretty sucky and I was going to stop the movie, but I had nothing better to do so I watched the whole thing. Once you get to the testimonies though, it begins to get really exciting and you get immersed in the story. "Who is telling the truth?" runs through your mind the whole time. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but the ending is one that will either piss you off or make you really thoughtful depending on what type of person you are.
This movie was really popular apparently and it even got five awards, but I didn't think it was that good. 66/100 is what I'd give it. I'd definitely watch it again if someone asked me to watch it with them, but it's not necessarily something I'd want to watch again just because.
This movie is one hour and a half. Sadly, it is not on YouTube like a lot of old movies, but
here is the trailer.
