Thinking about Rashomon led me to do a quick web search to explore just what’s on the web about this masterpiece. To my surprise Rashomon is to be found at Sube Tus Videos.
It’s remarkable that despite the immense damage sustained by Japan, particularly during the closing days of World War Two, that such a powerful cinematic statement could emerge so soon. The opening scenes of Rashomon are dynamic icons drawing the viewer into to the film while the credits hover over images. It’s worth a quick look. It’s influenced my life more profoundly that I first imagined. A long way from Dersu Uzala, another of Kurosawa’s masterpieces, and I think this has also been immensely influential in my life.
The principles that I draw from these two films are simple.
Reality is not necessarily captured in one’s first glimpse of a situation. At the risk of seeming trite, I’d expand this and say, what you think you see might not be what’s happening.
Human intelligence in represented and expressed wherever people are found. It is always unwise to assume that one’s own insight, based on ones own culture, however hegemonic ones culture might be, is not about to be eclipsed by the seemingly simple and primitive.
I love Akira Kurosawa’s work.
Russell Darnley Blog 