Rashomon (1950) Movie Review

 In "Rashomon" the story of a crime against a samurai in feudal Japan is retold many times to a curious onlooker by people involved in the investigation. However, the more details get added, the more complicated and unreliable the story gets. 

The film is an excellent exploration of memory; how flawed and imperfect in can be but also how self-serving it often is. The film's astonishing craft and expertly choreographed sword fights just add to this exploration all the same. 

The film may be densely thematic, but it's also an astonishing piece of cinema; the camera work never draws attention to itself and yet is expertly composed. The black-and-white may not be for everyone, but when you're roped into the story and scenes all is forgiven. 

The aforementioned black-and-white might not work for some, not to mention the fact that it's a foreign-to-America (Japanese) film. However, as a piece of cinema I do believe it generally can transcend to an American audience. 

In general, whether or not you feel like watching the film is "homework" (it is certainly used in some film schools) I'd still encourage watching it at least once. However, it would be completely understandable if black-and-white foreign films are not necessarily your type. 

Thanks for reading. Feel free to like or subscribe and I would greatly encourage you pledging to the Patreon so I can make bigger, better videos that you can vote on. Shoutout to Quinton Oliver Smith and I’ll see you next week.