羅生門 - Akira Kurosawa

Rashomon is a crime mystery film. It's always looked like a samurai film to me. I even thought Ikiru was likely to be a samurai film.

Being now my third Kurosawa film, I know it's not a "samurai film". It's hailed as one of his masterpieces, and stars the reckless Toshiro Mifune.

The majority of the film is told via flashbacks around a crime committed in the woods. We are set on lots of different paths, with accounts told from an array of characters, each one supposedly void of truth.

There is so much information on the film, making it an ideal essay for a film student, you can find: influences of silent film, modern art, how Kurosawa had the staff and actors live together, the use of light and minimal use of scenery to reflect upon all different symbolic and allegorical, profound meanings. There's even something dubbed the "Rashomon Effect", and writings that say the film is an allegory of the atomic bombing...

This is what makes reviewing classic film so difficult (or films that have been hailed as so influential): trying to find something honest to say when you just want to directly comment on how you enjoyed the film, avoiding regurgitating what has already been said.