Rashomon – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #138 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

March 27, 2010 by Dennis Amith 

With an new restoration of the film currently screening around the world, one can hope that the Criterion Collection releases the new version on Blu-ray.  But for now, this 2002 DVD release of the award-winning Akira Kurosawa film “Rashomon” is still worth having in your collection.  Featuring both the Japanese and English dub audio tracks, audio commentary, special features and a 28-page booklet, this Criterion Collection DVD release is the version of “Rashomon” to own for now.

Image courtesy of © 1950 Daiei Company. © 2002 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Rashomon – The Criterion Collection #138

DURATION: 88 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, Monaural in Japanese with English Subtitles, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio

COMPANY: HVE/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: 2002

Based on the stories “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” by Ryuonosuke Akutagawa

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Written by Akira Kurosawa and Shinobu Hashimoto

Executive Produced by Masaichi Nagata

Producer by Minoru Jingo

Music by Fumio Hayasaka

Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa

Edited by Akira Kurosawa

Production Design by Takashi Matsuyama

Set Decoration by H. Motsumoto

Starring:

Toshiro Mifune as Tajomaru

Machiko Kyo as Masako Kanazawa

Masayuki Mori as Takehiro Kanazawa

Takashi Shimura as Woodcutter

Minoru Chiaki as Priest

Kichijiro Ueda as Commoner

Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon  is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, Kurosawa reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the story of a man’s murder and the rape of his wife. Toshiro Mifune gives another commanding performance in the eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world.

As the week of Akira Kurosawa’s 100th birthday celebration has come and past, I decided that it was appropriate to watch a Kurosawa film and what best than a film he created 50 years ago, “Rashomon”.  A film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa and based on two stories “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and featuring cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa.

Many consider “Rashomon” to be the first film that American and Western audiences were exposed to a Kurosawa film and with the film winning an Italian Critics Award and the highly coveted Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival and an Academy Honorary Award, there was quite a bit of interest in the film.  Needless to say, the film was an influence to many filmmakers and even received a loosely-based remake in 1964 titled “The Outrage” starring Paul Newman.

“Rashomon” is a film begins with a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) and a priest (played by Minoru Chiaki) are sitting in a grove while waiting for the pouring rain to stop.  The two talk about an unfortunate situation that happened and are then joined by a commoner (played by Kichijiro Ueda) who listens to their story.

The film revolves around a woman (played by Machiko Kyo) who is raped and her husband, a samurai (played by Masayuki Mori) who was murdered.  We then learn about four different stories of what happened during that day and see a flashback from the witnesses who were summoned by the court.

The wood cutter tells the court that he was just cutting wood and saw the clothing of a woman in the bushes and found other artifacts.  As he walked through the forest to cut some wood, he found a dead body and ran away.

The priest has told the court about how he met a woman and her husband days earlier while he was walking.  But then we get additional testimony from witness such as the notorious (and unstable) thief Tajomaru (played by Toshiro Mifune) giving his account of what happened that day, followed by a testimony from the samurai’s wife who gives her account that day and then an account from the deceased samurai via a medium.

Four different accounts of what happened during that day but one must be telling the real story?  Or are all individuals lying?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Rashomon” is presented in black and white (1:33:1).  It is important to note that the film has received major restoration in Japan by Kadokawa and the version featured by Criterion Collection on DVD as released years before the restoration was completed.  But the version shown on the DVD is good for a 50-year-old film and has its share of dust and specks but at the time of this DVD’s release, the Criterion Collection did feature the film with a new HD digital transfer and restored image.

The transfer was created from a 35mmm fine-grain master positive on a high definition Spirit Datacine.  The MTI Digital Restoration was used to remove thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches.

Some scenes look very good such as closeups where we can see the beads of sweat on the characters.  But also various cuts during the forest and in many ways, Kurosawa’s admiration for silent film is used in “Rashomon” as there are minimal sets and  kept things simple.  Also, the film utilized really technological uses of contrasting shots courtesy of cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa.

With the Criterion Collection dedicated in releasing Kurosawa’s films on Blu-ray, fans can only hope that this new restored version of “Rashomon” will be considered for Blu-ray release sometime in the near future.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

Audio for “Rashomon” is presented in Dolby Digital Monaural.  Dialogue is primarily center channel driven but for a more immersive soundscape, I chose to watch “Rashomon” via my receiver set on stereo on all channels.  According to the Criterion Collection, the HD transfer of the film includes restored sound.

According to the Criterion Collection, the MTI Digital Restoration System was used to remove thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches.  The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the original audio magnetic tracks.  Audio restoration tools were used to remove clicks, pops, hiss and crackle.

It is important to note that the main Japanese soundtrack is included but also the original English dubbed soundtrack.  Personally, I didn’t watch much of the film with the English soundtrack as it was very reminiscent to watching old Kung Fu, Shaw Brothers films in the early ’80s.  But for those who can’t stand subtitles, at least they have the option to select an English dubbed soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Rashomon – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #138″ comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary by Donald Richie – Film historian Donald Richie provides the commentary of “Rashomon”.  As a film critic well-versed in Japanese cinema, Richie goes into depth about the filmmaking of the film.
• Video Introduction by Robert Altman – (6:39) Filmmaker Robert Altman (“Mash”, “Shortcuts”, “Gosford Park”) talks about his love for the film and Kurosawa’s symbolic use of light.
• Excerpts from “The World of Kazuo Miyagawa” – (12:32) A Japanese documentary (with English subtitles) based on Akira Kurosawa’s longtime cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa who talks about working with Akira Kurosawa and gives viewers insight to the director and the their professional relationship.  Most importantly, the techniques used to film “Rashomon”.
• Trailer – (3:27) The original theatrical trailer for “Rashomon”.
• 28-Page Booklet – Featuring the an essay on “Rashomon” by Stephen Prince (Author of “The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa”), “Akira Kurosawa on Rashomon” (from “Something Like an Autobiography) and excerpts from Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s “Rashomon” and “In a Grove” novel (both translated in English).

I first watched “Rashomon” while I was a young college student and was very surprised by how the film was much different from “The Seven Samurai”, especially when it came to the number of characters featured, the emotion of the characters especially the crazy Tajomaru and also taken aback by the reaction of the samurai’s wife Masako.

Needless to say, the concept of seeing flashbacks and finding out that these flashbacks were either truth or fabrications, one can’t deny of how this film captures your attention as you want to know who committed the crime.

I was impressed how Kurosawa was able to film “Rashomon” despite receiving a low budget and keeping things to a minimalist set.  Just to see how the camerawork came about, how meticulous the editing was since Kurosawa likes to shoot a scene with several cameras and of course, the character performances which were quite important in the development of the film.  In fact, prior to the film, the actors and staff lived together temporarily and it was a system which Kurosawa felt worked in bringing harmony to the set.

As mentioned, there has been restoration done on “Rashomon” with the source material being extremely in bad condition despite the 35mm print from 1962 being in very good physical condition.  So, each scene was digitally restored and cleaned up courtesy of the Academy Film Archive, the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.  The film has been shown throughout the world in 2009 and one can hope that with Kurosawa’s films making it to Blu-ray, the Criterion Collection considers the new restored version of “Rashomon” for Blu-ray release.

But for now, those who find “Rashomon” can be content with the Criterion Collection’s DVD release for now.  A good number of special features, solid picture and audio quality as one can expect from a 50-year-old film on DVD and an informative booklet and a few bonus features included.  “Rashomon” is definitely a Kurosawa masterpiece worth watching and having in your collection.