DVD : 4/5 Rating : Rashomon

LINKS :
Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB
Wikipedia
Official Website (The Criterion Collection)
Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :

watched this movie some time ago (catching up on dots :P) which came highly recommended by eric.

it was a great movie - very very well shot. they even had a special features section on the DVD which talked about how the camera was another actor - they would be correct.

there are two main points i think make this a great movie.

1. the story - bloodie great. it's a recounting of a rape and murder told by 4 peeps - all in their own viewpoint which favors them of course. you as the viewer has to decide / figure out who is telling the truth, what part of the story is true, etc... the interaction between you as the viewer and the movie is fantastic and if the camera work was crap that would not have been able to happen.

2. the cinemontography - amazing - even more amazing because this movie was shot in 1950! WHAT! THAT'S RIGHT - 1950. but other then the the movie being in black and white - you wouldn't be able to tell it's so old. it's that great. again - in the extras portion of the DVD they talk about how this movie was the first movie every to point the camera up.... at the sky. it's visible in the very first seen - as a woodcutter goes into the woods - that whole scene is beautiful and takes you the viewer with the woodcutter - deep deep into the woods. the way they used mirrors to light the actors! BRILLIANT! (highly recommend watching the extras).

apparently because most of the movie is shot in the woods conventional lighting systems didn't work - the contrast wasn't enough and everything looked grey. so the cinemontography decided to try mirrors - to basically light the actors so that they can stand out. the results are amazing.

bottom line - like foreign flicks? like great story? like to discuss movies after watching them? like non-hollywood flicks? watch this movie - come on, it's done by Akira Kurosawa - how can you not! :P