Only the Forest Knows: The Truth of Rashomon

When we watch a film, when we are a part of the audience, we take the role of the observer. We see what is presented to us and we make a judgment. In some films, the story is straightforward. We don’t have to work for understanding, it’s all laid out before us. In other films, there is ambiguity. Everything is not made clear, we have to take an active role in the observation and work to understand the information we are given. In either case, as an audience we trust in the fact that we are being presented with the truth.

What if it’s all a lie?

This issue of trust, truth, and ambiguity lies at the center of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Rashomon. One of Kurosawa’s most famous films, Rashomon tells one story four different times. Which version is true? Which teller do you trust?

It all begins one rainy day when three men take shelter from a storm. As nature unleashes its fury two men, a woodcutter and a priest, recount the tale of a murder to the third man. Several days before, the woodcutter discovered the body of a murdered man in the wood. The woodcutter and the priest were then called before the police in an effort to discover the murderer. Also called to testify were an infamous bandit, the murdered man’s wife, and the murdered man himself through a medium. It is no simple case, as each witness tells a different version of events and all claim responsibility for the crime.

The story of the film evolves through the different characters. There is the frame story involving the men in the storm, there is the trial, and there is each person’s version of the events. The audience is brilliantly called as witness and judge through the trial segments. Each character is placed in the center of the frame and speaks to the camera. The police are silent observers; we sit in their place.

I feel that the film’s one real weakness is the frame story itself. I’m not convinced it’s completely necessary and I find its conclusion to be overly sentimental. I think the film would have worked just as well without it. As far as flaws go though, this is not a major one.

My personal favorite segment is the wife’s story. Machiko Kyo plays Masako, the wife. She is a beautiful and wonderfully talented actress (she also has a large role in one of my other favorite Japanese films, Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu). Between her emotional recitation of the events of her husband’s murder and the flashback scene, I find her segment to be the most engaging. I also find her character to be the only one I feel any real sympathy for. Perhaps it’s because I’m a woman but I find that in every telling, even when she may be behaving reprehensibly by certain standards, I feel sorry for her. She is the one the bandit attacked, she was forced into the role of the victim, and no matter how she is cast I feel sympathy for her.

Rashomon also features the always wonderful Toshiro Mifune. One of the most well known Japanese actors, Mifune starred in hundreds of films and chances are if you’re a watcher of Japanese cinema you’ve seen him. However, while I love Mifune and always enjoy watching him, he can at times be a little too over the top. I do think he is fantastic and charismatic as the bandit. There are just moments when I wish he would have taken the role a little more seriously. Sometimes he’s just a little too goofy.

Its unique structure is what makes Rashomon a classic. Its craft is what makes it a masterpiece. The sound design is impeccable, the cinematography inspiring. Visually, Rashomon has left a definite impact on many filmmakers. The black and white photography is gorgeous. The way that cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa plays with the light is phenomenal. Sunlight dances through the trees, across the characters' faces. When the woodcutter first tells the tale of the murder, the camera ingeniously introduces the story. In a series of pans, tilts, tracking and handheld shots, the camera follows the woodcutter but it does more. The woodcutter is not always the visual focus, the trees are. The wood is introduced as an observer as well, the great ancient tress standing as silent witnesses. While men are overcome by lust, greed, and corruption, the trees watch. They know the truth but they cannot reveal it.

Rashomon truly is a great film just as Akira Kurosawa is a great director. It’s also a great introduction to Japanese filmmaking. Kurosawa is known as the great American Japanese director. His films are accessible, they are entertaining, and they are superbly crafted works that can be appreciated by both the serious and the casual viewer. If you’re not afraid of subtitles check out Kurosawa, the experience will be a rewarding one.

Rashomon (1950)
dir. Akira Kurosawa
B&W
Japanese w/ English subtitles