What more can I say about Akira Kurosawa that I haven’t already discussed? Rashomon was another innovative masterpiece, building on the themes of his other works, like High and Low and The Seven Samurai. I was mildly astonished that I didn’t have any Kurosawa DVDs on my shelves when I got home. I was sure that I had purchased The Seven Samurai some time ago.
A body is discovered in the woods and three people – the accused, the victim’s wife, and the spirit of the dead man via a medium – recount different stories about what happen. The three tales may all be lies or they each might contain some element of the truth. A witness and a priest struggle to explain what happened to a bystander as they all seek shelter from a driving rainstorm.
Would it be a Kurosawa film if it weren’t in black and white? Nobody is entirely good or evil and everyone’s morals are drawn in shades of grey. The film remains tense although characters are merely retelling a story that occurred three days previously and the script combines action and comedy. Kurosawa balances tight closeups to show the emotions of each character with wide angle shots to convey the entire scene. The audience was entertained throughout the screening at the Bloor Cinema.
The priest is tremendously dismayed at what appears to be a failed marriage, a senseless rape, and a vicious murder. He is having trouble reconciling his studies with human nature. In feudal Japan, during desperate times, people stoop to contemptible levels. Regular citizens may condemn the bandits who torment them but they are willing to steal from each other in order to survive.
Nevertheless, while every soul has the capacity for evil, everyone can redeem themselves with their actions. The witness who had lied about the murder and stolen from the crime scene convinces the priest with a selfless act, depicted subtly by the director, at the conclusion of the film. ****