I was watching Akira Kurosawa’s famous Rashomon yesterday, and I can see why it’s such a classic film. I think it did have one flaw, which critic after critic has pointed out – it is too monotonous. The film uses only four locations, and the same characters, who are more or less doing the same things over and over – add to that the black and white and it’s a boring, boring watch.

The classic takes place in Japan, where a woodcutter narrates a story to a man who has taken shelter from the rain. The woodcutter claims to have found a dead body and was produced before the court, where four testimonies regarding the incident are narrated, therefore we see a flashback-within-a-flashback. Who is telling the truth? Who can be trusted? Is the woodcutter telling the truth? The entire movie leaves this an enigma, but not as an enigma, but a question that is meant to be appreciated, not answered.

Still, it was an artistic treat, especially the parts devoid of any dialogue for several minutes, or the subliminal commentary on the human condition that runs throughout the movie, as well as the mild eulogy on the subjectivity of truth. While the movie could have used some more originality, I thought it had fantastic editing and soundwork.

I’ll have to look into the ending, though. It was a rather unusual ending – while it does help conclude the film’s philosophical themes, questioning morality and the human condition, as a plot it feels unsatisfying. Then again, to be frank, it was a relief the movie ended at last.