Rashomon

........ is a nice Japanese movie made in 1950. I watched this movie today (Holiday here, Ganesh Chaturthi). I was surfing through my movie collection and then I saw this movie "Rashomon" there.  The next logical step was to check the ranking on IMDB and I think it is safe to assume that everybody here knows about this. If not, then you should better check this. It has loads of information on every movie.

So it was a Japanese movie rated very highly at IMDB (8.5/10 and all-time rank of 69th), therefore decided to watch it. You all agree that its painful to watch a foreign language movie with subtitles. But this movie was not that bad on this front as there were very few dialogues, which is quite understandable considering the transition of movies from silent to present era during that period.

This movie is a beautiful depiction of how truth varies as per one's own perception and beliefs and it reiterates that truth is not objective , its subjective and I liked that subjectivity. Watching a movie made for 1950's audience and that too in a Japanese feudal village, in 2008 doesn't do full justice to the movie. I really appreciate how different director's thinking was in those times and overall I can say that its a good watch for any movie buff.

One quote which I really liked,

"Commoner: But is there anyone who's really good? Maybe goodness is just make-believe. 

Priest: What a frightening... 

Commoner: Man just wants to forget the bad stuff, and believe in the made-up good stuff. It's easier that way."

The story goes like ..

"The story told by Rashomon is both surprisingly simple and deceptively complex. The central tale, which tells of the rape of a woman (Machiko Kyo) and the murder of a man (Masayuki Mori), possibly by a bandit (Toshiro Mifune), is presented entirely in flashbacks from the perspectives of four narrators. The framing portions of the movie transpire at Kyoto's crumbling Rashomon gate, where several people seek shelter from a pelting rain storm and discuss the recent crime, which has shocked the region. One of the men, a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura), was a witness to the events, and, with the help of a priest (Minoru Chiaki), he puzzles over what really happened, and what such a horrible occurrence says about human nature.

In each of the four versions of the story, the characters are the same, as are many of the details. But much is different, as well. In the first account, that of the bandit, the criminal accepts culpability for the murder but refutes the charge of rape, saying that it was an act of mutual consent. The woman's story affirms that the bandit attacked her, but indicates that she may have been the murderess. The dead man's tale (told through a medium) claims rape and suicide. The only "impartial" witness, the woodcutter, weaves a story that intertwines elements of the other three, leaving the viewer wondering if he truly saw anything at all."