Laserdisc Title: "RASHOMON (1950)"
Edition: The Criterion Collection (Single Disc)
Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Homma
Special Features: ---Dual soundtracks are provided, allowing the viewer to select either the Japanese language version of the film with English subtitles (Analog Track 1) or the dubbed English version (Analog Track 2)---
Production / Year: 1950 R.K.O. Radio Pictures, Inc.
Running Time: 87 Minutes / Black & White
Audio Format: Digital Sound
Video Format: NTSC, CLV (Extended Play)
Miscellaneous Features: ---Japanese with English subtitles---
Distributed By: The Voyager Company (First Printing 1989)
Catalog / Spine Number: CC1149L (Spine Number 49)

IMPORTANT: This is a 12-inch Diameter Laserdisc, which is NOT the same as DVD and cannot be played on a DVD player!

Cosmetic Condition:
Disc (s): Excellent - Hardly noticeable to very minor hairline surface swirls, if any
Jacket: Excellent - Normal shelf wear, few creases, slightly worn-out corners or edges but no signs of spines splitting

Synopsis:

If you have never seen this film, you will come to it and find it very familiar. That's because Rashomon has become part of the world's consciousness & lexicon. It's story of an action involving several participants, each with their own differing version of the truth, has been elaborated and riffed-on by many others since it appeared on the world's stage in the 50's.

So you come to Rashomon not to be overwhelmed with its "newness" and the refreshing change of first encountering Japanese cinema and acting styles. No, you come to Rashomon as to an old master, to appreciate its lasting impression of the universality of human foibles and passions and the illusory nature of truth.

A rape and murder have occured in a woods. We hear and see different versions of the same encounter. Who is telling the truth? Is there an absolute objective truth, or does every teller of the tale inherently only tell the truth as he sees it? And if everyone is a "liar" and there is no absolute truth, what is the point of anything?

Don't let the heavy questions mislead you. Rashomon moves quickly, fluidly and gracefully, telling its story with economy and, to me, humor. Much is made of the dark philosophy underneath the theme, but I find great sardonic humor in the film. One example, the fight between the thief & the man as related by the woodcutter...it is messy and unheroic, sweaty, breathless and awkward and the antithesis of the stylized balletic sword fights found in, even Kurosawa's, samurai movies.

In the end, as familiar and much copied as Rashomon has been, it is still like no other film. It is unique, and the result of a master filmaker's vision, unified and beautiful and unforgettable.

THIS IS NOT A DVD!!! THIS IS A 12" LASERDISC AND WILL NOT PLAY IN A DVD PLAYER

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