| Rashomon - The Criterion Collection (1951)
|
|
|
| Front Cover |
Actor |
Back Cover |
|
| Toshiro Mifune |
Tajomaru, the Bandit
|
| Masayuki Mori |
Takehiro, the Nobleman
|
| Machiko Kyo |
Masago, the Wife
|
| Takashi Shimura |
Woodcutter
|
| Minoru Chiaki |
Priest
|
| Kichijiro Ueda |
Commoner
|
| Daisuke Kato |
Policeman
|
| Fumiko Homma |
Medium
|
| Fumiko Honma |
Medium
|
| Toshirô Mifune |
Tajômaru
|
| Machiko Kyô |
Masako
|
| Daisuke Katô |
Policeman
|
|
|
|
| Plot |
| This landmark film is a brilliant exploration of truth and human weakness. It opens with a priest, a woodcutter, and a peasant taking refuge from a downpour beneath a ruined gate in 12th-century Japan. The priest and the woodcutter, each looking stricken, discuss the trial of a notorious bandit for rape and murder. As the retelling of the trial unfolds, the participants in the crime — the bandit (Toshiro Mifune), the rape victim (Machiko Kyo), and the murdered man (Masayuki Mori) — tell their plausible though completely incompatible versions of the story. In the bandit's version, he and the man wage a spirited duel after the rape, resulting in the man's death. In the woman's testimony, she is spurned by her husband after being raped. Hysterical with grief, she kills him. In the man's version, speaking through the lips of a medium, the bandit beseeches the woman after the rape to go away with him. She insists that the bandit kill her husband first, which angers the bandit. He spurns her and leaves. The man kills himself. Seized with guilt, the woodcutter admits to the shocked priest and the commoner that he too witnessed the crime. His version is equally feasible, although his veracity is questioned when it is revealed that he stole a dagger from the crime scene. Just as all seems bleak and hopeless, a baby appears behind the gate. The commoner seizes the moment and steals the child's clothes, while the woodcutter redeems himself and humanity in the eyes of the troubled priest, by adopting the infant. — Jonathan Crow |
| Movie Details |
| Genre |
Crime; Drama; Mystery; Thriller |
| Director |
Akira Kurosawa |
| Producer |
Minoru Jingo; Masaichi Nagata; Jingo Minoura |
| Writer |
Ryunosuke Akutagawa; Akira Kurosawa |
|
| Studio |
Criterion |
| Country |
Japan
|
| Language |
Japanese |
| Audience Rating |
NR |
| Running Time |
83 mins |
| Movie Release Date |
1951 |
| Color |
Color |
|
| Personal Details |
| Format |
DVD |
| Seen It |
Yes |
| Index |
157 |
| Collection Status |
In Collection |
| Location |
Disc 21 |
|
| Product Details |
| Region |
 Region 1 |
| Screen Ratio |
 Standard 1.33:1 B&W |
| Layers |
Single Side, Dual Layer |
| UPC (Barcode) |
037429161821 |
| Chapters |
13 |
| Release Date |
3/26/2002 |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Packaging |
Keep Case |
| Audio Tracks |
 JAPANESE: Dolby Digital Mono |
| Nr of Disks/Tapes |
1 |
|
|
Extra Features
|
Commentary by Japanese Film Historian Donald Richie
Video Introduction by Robert Altman
Excerpts from The World Of Kazuo Miyagawa, A Documentary Film about Rashomon's Cinematographer
Reprints of the Rashomon Source Stories, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's "In A Grove" and "Rashomon"
Akira Kurosawa on Rashomon: A reprinted excerpt from his book Something Like And Autobiography
Theatrical Trailer
|
|
