• Kurosawa’s Rashomon is a masterpiece on at least two levels: the use of deep focus photography combined with character blocking compositions (which rivals Citizen Kane– which is funny because Kane is also the film the subjective, unreliable narration, flashback structure is compared to) – and that aspect of Rashomon is probably overlooked because of the shock wave sent from the film’s audacious formal storytelling structure
  • This is description not a critique, but at 88 minutes Kurosawa would never again have this sort of brevity I believe (presumably because after this he could do more of what he wanted which leads me to believe he preferred the longer gestation of a lengthy running time)
  • A mediation on subjectivity, truth, man’s self-serving dog-eat-dog nature – “It is human to lie”  in the text- the world is hell- Kurosawa’s nihilistic vision
the use of deep focus photography combined with character blocking compositions
  • Yet another triumph of Rashomon is the use of weather, the rain beating down on the three characters telling the story in flashback— through a series of shots Kurosawa gets closer and closer to the three, and then shoots Shimura in a powerful composition in the foreground. The rain would symbolically lift at the end of the film
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through a series of shots Kurosawa gets closer and closer to the three at Rashomon, and then shoots Shimura in a powerful composition in the foreground
  • Rhythmic score from Fumio Hayasaka            that helps set the pace
  • At the 8 minute mark we get the famous shot of the sun, I’ve made the mistake of attributing this to Malick (it’s a s reoccurring trait of Malick’s), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (and I’m not sure he’s seen the work of Kurosawa or Malick) but a stunner here—another shot of it hitting the sun at 31 minutes, formal work- and it’s not just a beautiful shot of course, but stresses the extreme heat, raised stakes and drama of the fateful day in the film
At the 8 minute mark we get the famous shot of the sun, I’ve made the mistake of attributing this to Malick (it’s a s reoccurring trait of Malick’s), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (and I’m not sure he’s seen the work of Kurosawa or Malick) but a stunner here—another shot of it hitting the sun at 31 minutes, formal work
  • The flashback structure has the characters kneeing in a stark setting (witnesses, true to Kurosawa’s form as an auteur who focuses on the various depths of field are in the background) and you can’t hear the judges, only the witnesses as they kneel and spout their subjectivity
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The flashback structure has the characters kneeing in a stark setting (witnesses, true to Kurosawa’s form as an auteur who focuses on the various depths of field are in the background)
  • Kurosawa has some dazzling handheld tracking shots (as both as anything being done in B-movie noir at the time) pushing the camera through the woods and foliage
  • As mentioned in the opening the foreground/background compositions are easily the strongest in Kurosawa’s career to date (1300 glowing words from my man Ebert with nothing about this). Whether it is in the flashback or the three in the ruins of the Rashomon building in the rain Kurosawa is often playing with three figures in moving triangles and angles keeping everything, marvelously, in focus. One standout is the shot of Machiko Kyô in the foreground with her husband tied up to the tree in the background
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Whether it is in the flashback or the three in the ruins of the Rashomon building in the rain Kurosawa is often playing with three figures in moving triangles and angles keeping everything, marvelously, in focus
  • It is tied to his work with subjectivity—but Kurosawa often with take the camera and subtlety hover it over a character’s shoulder – genius
  • Trivia here but often cited as the reason for the best foreign film category for the Academy award
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Antonioni would master this sort of shot — using architecture in the frame- but do it a decade later
  • By the time the story gets to the medium- all jaws are on the floor—this is just boldness on top of boldness
  • Another perfect frame at 54 minutes with the husband in the background
  • Again this is easily Kurosawa’s most artistically ambitious film, painterly, even without the groundbreaking experimental narrative fracturing—the way he can just take three characters talking around a structure (a doomed structure with the heavens opening up on it until the sun breaks out at the end)—magnificent.
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always the focus on foreground/background
  • the composition of the shot between Mifune’s legs at 69 minute
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the composition of the shot between Mifune’s legs at 69 minute
  • I’ve gone on this long without talking about the performances- mainly Mifune— he’s solid in Stray Dog and Drunken Angel but this is revelatory. It’ is big, bold, primal—and you can’t take your eyes off him- just blowing everyone else off the screen
  • There is no answer in this film—Shimura’s own story is even upended. And of course you have the anti-sword fight to end all sword fights here absolutely demythologizing the nobility of violence
  • avant-garde in its innovative construction and Kurosawa’s compositions—yet thoroughly  engaging
avant-garde in its innovative construction and Kurosawa’s compositions—yet thoroughly  engaging
  • At 78 minutes you have a von Sternberg Blue Angel or Antonioni Red Desert (von Sternberg’s film isn’t in color so though both titles have color in their name this isn’t about color of course) tree branch obstructing the frame, breaking it apart with Mifune in the deep background
  • And just after that at 79 minutes the frame in the rain with the wood blocking the top half- gorgeous work- wall art in a museum quality and there are at least a dozen these in an 88 minute film
And just after that at 79 minutes the frame in the rain with the wood blocking the top half- gorgeous work- wall art in a museum quality and there are at least a dozen these in an 88 minute film
  • A masterpiece and one of cinema’s finest works