Rashomon
There is a great danger when you look up beforehand what a certain story is going to be. In the case of “Rashomon”, I expected a crime story whose truth is going to be gradually revealed. Certainly this was actually the case, but ultimately the versions of the crime story given by the people at the place were not too utterly different. I wanted drama and action!
Well, what can I say. The story itself makes a lot of sense, and I am happy to have seen it finally. It was extremely well done, the actors were absolutely brilliant (especially Mr. Mifune here) and I was also a big fan of the sweet end of the story. But then again, there is something I find utterly underwhelming about the film. I am always very vary of the first ranks in those “greatest movies of all times” lists. I think that “Singin’ in the Rain” is great, but not that great to warrant being number 9 (the same thing goes for “Battleship Potemkin” or, oh my God, “Casablanca”). In the same way, I was just not that impressed by the film. It was supposed to be a good story, which it was, but nothing more. People seem to see deeper philosophical meaning behind it, and it inspired other artists and even theorists, but in my opinion, this is just a film that self-proclaimed intellectuals can boost with, because it’s not that difficult to do.
I do see a great potential in Kurosawa’s films though. I like his very Western style a lot, because it comes off as very natural to me, and so far prefer him over Ozu’s style (even though I am a big fan of “Ukigusa”). We’ll see; one day I have to see “Seven Samurai” after all – and all his other films.