I've seen a lot of films, but obviously I haven't seen everything. So I thought it'd be fun to start reviewing acclaimed/popular movies that I've never seen. Because there's a fair few. This'll probably just be initial thoughts rather than any kind of detailed analysis, but I still think it's a fun way to work my way down the watchlist. The other night, I watched Rashomon for the first time, often called one of the greatest movies ever, and it was after that when I decided to start doing this. So, let's do it!
I'm a huge Akira Kurosawa fan. Seven Samurai is arguably my favourite movie of all time, and I always love when I can dive into his catalogue a little further. I'd always heard that Rashomon was one of his best, and so I was really curious going in. I knew the general plot, with an awful crime viewed from multiple perspectives. I knew that the film had a non-linear narrative, but that's kind of it
So what did I think of it? Yeah, it was pretty good. I wouldn't say it's as good as some of his other stuff, but it's definitely a really interesting film. I'm writing this a couple of days after I watched it, because I really did need to sit on it for a while, but I was really impressed with this one. Watching it made me realise that I prefer Kurosawa's epics, like Ran or Seven Samurai, because although I liked the film's more focused narrative, sometimes the ideas seemed a little drawn out. Rashomon looks at some really complex ideas like truth, morality and corruption, and while I really liked how these ideas were handled, I thought that the examination of them was almost too thorough for the film's own good. Each of the stories were maybe a touch longer than they needed to be, and the end segment with the baby was a little bit odd, like the movie was introducing new ideas and then just.... ending
There's a lot too like, though. The performances are obviously fantastic, especially Toshiro Mifune as a crazy bandit. This guy is really fun to watch, and is maybe my favourite part here. Yeah, I thought that the film's exploration of its ideas was a little long winded, but they're really, really interesting ideas, and the multiple stories themselves use perspective to make the audience consider the already established ideas in completely different ways. The film looked gorgeous, and the way it used light and darkness was really interesting, a visual representation of the shifting morality. Kurosawa's direction is obviously fantastic, using the limited amount of settings to create an almost stage-play like atmosphere. There's so much brilliant filmmaking on display here, which kind of brings me to my ultimate conclusion on it: I really admire Rashomon, but I don't particularly enjoy it
It's an exercise in masterful direction, but as a story, I did find it a little long winded and honestly a little repetitive. Every story explores a different perspective, but because they all use the same components, none of them feel especially new. I loved the acting and the direction, and there's no denying the depth of its ideas, but the complexity here feels very cold. It's definitely an admirable film, and technically I do think it's fantastic, and a definite must watch, but it doesn't have the emotional punch that something like Seven Samurai has. I really respected the artistry on display in Rashomon, but as a plot, it wasn't the most engaging watch. Objectively it's masterful, but it didn't click for me in the way that his other movies do. Rashomon is a fantastic film, and I really admire it, and think it's undoubtedly deserving of its status as an essential piece of cinema, but it's not particularly enjoyable. Not for me, anyway. Maybe I need to watch it again, or sit on it for another while, but as it stands, it's a brilliant film that didn't quite effect me. All in all, Rashomon was great, but I just wish I liked it a little bit more
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