Rashomon (Film) Akira Kurosawa

Box office

The film performed well at the domestic Japanese box office, where it was one of the top ten highest-earning films of the year.[21] It also performed well overseas, becoming Kurosawa's first major international hit.[22]

In the United States, the film grossed $46,808 in 2002[23] and $96,568 during 2009 to 2010,[24] for a combined $143,376 in the United States between 2002 and 2010.

In Europe, the film sold 365,300 tickets in France and Spain,[25] and 8,292 tickets in other European countries between 1996 and 2020,[26] for a combined total of at least 373,592 tickets sold in Europe.

Japanese critical responses

Although it won two Japanese awards,[21] most Japanese critics did not like the film. When it received positive responses in the West, Japanese critics were baffled: some decided that it was only admired there because it was "exotic"; others thought that it succeeded because it was more "Western" than most Japanese films.[27]

In a collection of interpretations of Rashomon, Donald Richie writes that "the confines of 'Japanese' thought could not contain the director, who thereby joined the world at large".[28] He also quotes Kurosawa criticizing the way the "Japanese think too little of our own [Japanese] things".

International responses

The film appeared at the 1951 Venice Film Festival at the behest of an Italian language teacher, Giuliana Stramigioli, who had recommended it to Italian film promotion agency Unitalia Film seeking a Japanese film to screen at the festival. However, Daiei Motion Picture Company (a producer of popular features at the time) and the Japanese government had disagreed with the choice of Kurosawa's work on the grounds that it was "not [representative enough] of the Japanese movie industry" and felt that a work of Yasujirō Ozu would have been more illustrative of excellence in Japanese cinema. Despite these reservations, the film was screened at the festival.

Before it was screened at the Venice festival, the film initially drew little attention and had low expectations at the festival, as Japanese cinema was not yet taken seriously in the West at the time. But once it had been screened, Rashomon drew an overwhelmingly positive response from festival audiences, praising the originality of the film and its techniques while making many question the nature of truth.[29] The film won both the Italian Critics Award and the Golden Lion award—introducing Western audiences, including Western directors, more noticeably to both Kurosawa's films and techniques, such as shooting directly into the sun and using mirrors to reflect sunlight onto the actor's faces.

The film was released in the United States on December 26, 1951, by RKO Radio Pictures in both subtitled and dubbed versions, and it won an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for being "the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States during 1951" (the current Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film wasn't introduced until 1956). The following year, when it was eligible for consideration in other Academy Award categories, it was nominated for Best Art Direction for a Black-and-White Film.

Upon release in North America, Ed Sullivan gave the film a positive review in Hollywood Citizen-News, calling it "an exciting evening, because the direction, the photography and the performances will jar open your eyes." He praised Akutagawa's original plot, Kurosawa's impactful direction and screenplay, Mifune's "magnificent" villainous performance, and Miyagawa's "spellbinding" cinematography that achieves "visual dimensions that I've never seen in Hollywood photography" such as being "shot through a relentless rainstorm that heightens the mood of the somber drama."[30] In the early 1960s, film historians credited Rashomon as the start of the international New Wave cinema movement, which gained popularity during the late 1950s to early 1960s.[29]

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 98% of 52 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; with an average rating of 9.3/10. The site's consensus reads: "One of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's most acclaimed films, Rashomon features an innovative narrative structure, brilliant acting, and a thoughtful exploration of reality versus perception."[31] In a 1998 issue of Time Out New York, Andrew Johnston wrote:

Rashomon is probably familiar even to those who haven't seen it, since in movie jargon, the film's title has become synonymous with its chief narrative conceit: a story told multiple times from various points of view. There's much more than that to the film, of course. For example, the way Kurosawa uses his camera...takes this fascinating meditation on human nature closer to the style of silent film than almost anything made after the introduction of sound.[32]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four and included it in his Great Movies list.[33]

Remakes and adaptations

Rashomon spawned numerous remakes and adaptations across film, television and theatre.[34][35] Examples include:

• Rashomon as a play, various versions of which have been performed since the 1950s, including on Broadway in 1959 as written by Michael and Fay Kanin.[36][37]
• Andha Naal, a 1954 Tamil film was inspired by Rashomon.
• Valerie, a 1957 American western Inspired by Kurosawa's film.
• On The Dick Van Dyke Show, in 1962, season 2, episode 9, "The Night the Roof Fell In". Rob and Laura's perspectives of their day is countered by a goldfish.[38]
• The Outrage, a 1964 American western directed by Martin Ritt. Screenplay adapted by Michael Kanin from the 1959 Broadway version he co-wrote with his wife, Fay Kanin (above).[36][39]
• On The Odd Couple, in 1972, season 2, episode 21, "A Night To Dismember". Oscar, Blanche and Felix all remember the New Year's Eve when the Madisons split up differently.
• Yavanika, a 1982 Indian Malayalam-language film loosely based on the film. The film stars Bharat Gopy and Mammootty.
• On All in the Family, in 1973, season 3, episode 21, "Everybody Tells the Truth." Mike, Archie, and Edith recount competing tales of the evening's interactions with a refrigerator repairman.
• "Rashomama", a 1983 episode of Mama's Family
• On thirtysomething, in 1987, season 1, episode 4, "Couples". Each of the 4 main characters remember differently their evening at a restaurant and a marital fight afterwards.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation, where a 1990 episode called "A Matter of Perspective" was produced and aired with a similar plot line to Rashomon, this time told from the view of Commander Riker, the assistant of a murdered respected scientist and the scientist's widow.[40][35]
• Courage Under Fire, a 1996 war film, in which events surrounding the rescue of a downed Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter in the First Gulf War are recounted in flashbacks by three different crew members.[34]
• On Frasier, in 1997, season 5, episode 9, "Perspectives on Christmas". The family each recall their day from different perspectives.[35]
• King of the Hill: in the tenth episode of the third season, "A Fire Fighting We Will Go". The gang each recalls the burning down of a firehouse from their perspective, each portraying themselves as the hero.
• Farscape's second season's 17th episode, "The Ugly Truth", which aired in 2000, follows this format, challenging the crew of Moya as liars, as the interrogators are a species with eidetic memory who can't comprehend subjective viewpoints.[35]
• "Suspect", episode 13 of season 2 of Smallville from 2003, depicts the mystery of who attempted the murder of Lionel Luthor with contradictory flashbacks from multiple perspectives.
• Virumaandi, a 2004 Tamil film written, directed and produced by Kamal Haasan,depicts an incident in view of two prisoners, Virumaandi thevar and Kothala thevar.
• On CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in the 2006, Season 6, Episode 21 "Rashomama". Nick's car containing all the evidence for a murder is stolen and the team attempts to continue the investigation based on their conflicting memories of the crime scene.[41]
• Vantage Point, a 2008 film with multiple viewpoints focusing on an assassination attempt on the President of the United States
• The Rashomon Job, an episode of the series Leverage (2008–2012) telling the story of a heist from five points of view (S03E11)
• At the Gate of the Ghost, a 2011 Thai film by M.L. Pundhevanop Devakula, adapting Kurosawa's screenplay to ancient Ayutthaya.[42]
• Police Story 2013, a 2013 film partially inspired by some plot elements.
• The Affair, a 2014 series portraying an extramarital relationship where the leads recount different versions of their liaison.
• Ulidavaru Kandanthe, a 2014 Kannada film directed Rakshit Shetty, where a journalist narrates the story of a murder in 7 different viewpoints by giving special reference to local Tulu people and their culture.
• Talvar, a 2015 Hindi film narrates the story of a double murder through multiple contradictory viewpoints.
• The Bottomless Bag, a 2017 Russian film by Rustam Khamdamov, also based on Akutagawa's In a Grove.
• Tombstone Rashomon, a 2017 film that tells the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the style of Rashomon.
• The Last Duel, Ridley Scott's 2021 epic historical drama of a rape and duel told through multiple points of view.[43][44]
• Monster is 2023 Japanese drama film.