Rashomon = In the woods

A woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) witnesses a horrific series of events: A noble man (Mayasuki Mori) and his wife (Machiko Kyo) are ambushed by the famous bandit Tajomaru (Toshiro Mifune). The wife is raped and the nobleman is killed in a duel. Tajomaru is arrested and tried. In the telling of the tale in front of the judge, however, each of the four participants - the bandit, the wife, the woodcutter, the ghost of the murdered nobleman - gives a different view of what actually happened. Is any of them telling the truth? Akira Kurosawa leaves us to ponder the subjective nature of Truth. In this work he borrows heavily from Japan’s artistic tradition, specially kabuki theatre, where events are often repeated with slight variations. Winner of Golden Lion, Venice, 1951. Adapted from two original stories by Ryunosuke Akugatawa (“Rashomon” and “In a grove”).