This is one of a series of notes for
A Chronological Biography of Akira Kurosawa.
This film was was based on stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who had committed suicide in the 1920s.
The setting is eighth century Japan. Caught in a storm, a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) tells his companions a story which begins with his discovery of a corpse. Accused of murdering the man Takehiro (Masayuki Mori) and raping his wife Masago (Machiko Kyo), the bandit Tajomaru (Toshiro Mifune) states that the incident was a fair fight. Masago asserts that she was raped and the she killed her husband when he disowned her. Through a medium, the husband claims to have committed suicide in response to the dishonour. The woodcutter wows that Takehiro had been forced to fight and that Tajomaru acted in self-defence. However even his objective testimony may not be reliable.
Title: Rashomon
Original Title in Japanese: Rashomon
Running Time: 87 min
Year: 1950
Company: Daiei
Writer(s): Akira Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto
Director of Photography: Kazuo Miyagawa
Production Designer: Takashi Matsuyama
Music: Fumio Hayakawa
Assistant Director(s): Yasuhi Kato, Mitsuo Wakasugi, Tokuzo Tanaka
Cast:
Toshiro Mifune (Tajomaru), Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki,
Yoshijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma, Taisuke Kato