Rashomon - Is this guy Kurosawa the God?

For a long time i could not sit down and watch a movie. All the moving, cooking ,talking and traveling was pulling away my time like the bee sucking the nectar out from a flower. I was drained and badly needed a breath of fresh air which actually means a good movie without any company. I decided to do it and visited the public library and picked up some old classics. One of them happened to be Rashomon. Talk about movies and the word Kurosawa is an adjective that flies around quite a bit. In what is come to be known as Kurosawa's best films Rashomon is his first to international acclaim which won him the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.

Rashomon is a 1950 period movie that talks about human ingenuity. The movie encompasses the philosophy of honor, lust, greed, piousness, bravery etc.. The movie beautifully shows the characters changing their stance for what they have been judged too. The movie is as relevant today as it was 6 decades ago. Kurosawa is know to use weather a part of his films and in this movie he uses rain. The rain makes a virtual blanket to the three men discussing the trial. The woods is a perfect setting for a bandit, a samurai and his wife to confront each other. It gives the film the mystery and also brings out the true emotions out from the characters.

The trial scene with the testimony is a creative way to talk to the audience. With the interrogator out of the picture we see the characters talking to the camera and answering questions. The final scene where the man who finds the murdered body confronts the guy who listens to him is where we find out the human nature to lie, steal and survive.

The movie was definitely a breath of fresh air to me. I would be soon watching his other classics like Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of blood etc.. Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors and a gift to the world of art.