Rashomon

Initially a flop in its native Japan, Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Oscar-winning Rashomon is today recognized as a major milestone in modern cinema. Set in medieval Japan, during the 8th century, the film focuses on a single event: a samurai (Masayuki Mori) and his wife (Machiko Kyo) are ambushed by a bandit (Toshiro Mifune) who kills the husband and rapes the wife. The twist is that during the trial, the same incident is related four different times--with different interpretations. The bandit says one thing, the wife another, the dead man speaking through a medium offers a third version, and, finally, a seemingly disinterested eyewitness woodcutter tells the "truth" (until it is discovered that he has stolen the dead man's knife--so his word is no more valid than that of the others). Kurosawa's exploration of the nature of truth and, moreover, his suggestion that visual events can be channeled through subjective emotions to produce literally different versions of reality, was a gift to modern filmmakers, who have used the notion extensively ever since. In addition to the handsome restored image and sound on this crisp transfer, the disc includes an introduction by director Robert Altman, a 12-minute excerpt from The World of Kazuo Miyagawa (a documentary on the late cinematographer for Rashomon), and a handsome 28-page booklet with reprints of the source stories for the movie and an excerpt from the late Kurosawa's autobiography. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Nov. 6, 2012—Criterion, 88 min., in Japanese w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1950's Rashomon sports a great transfer with Dolby Digital mono audio on DVD, and LPCM mono audio on Blu-ray. Bonus features include audio commentary by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie, “A Testimony as an Image” documentary with the cast and crew (68 min.), excerpts from “The World of Kazuo Miyagawa” on the cinematographer (13 min.), an interview with filmmaker Robert Altman (7 min.), an audio interview with costar Takashi Shimura, trailers, and a booklet featuring an essay by film historian Stephen Prince, an excerpt from Kurosawa's Something Like an Autobiography, and reprints of two source stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Bottom line: a landmark foreign classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]