Word: rashomon
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...actor in epic Japanese films; in Mitaka, Japan. In his 16-film collaboration with director Akira Kurosawa, Mifune came to embody the heroic, archetypical loner with his rough features and angry intensity. America had cowboys; Japan had Mifune, wielding a sword and his trademark glare in the Oscar-winning Rashomon, The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. Although Mifune often played the Pacific enemy in American films like Midway (1976), his menace needed no translation. It was his Japanese films that stuck with audiences, inspiring such imitators as Clint Eastwood and even Jim Belushi...
...Honor? Answer: maybe yes, maybe no. Heroism must be investigated before it can be officially rewarded and--talk about ironies--the semidisgraced Serling is assigned to the inquiry. Plagued by guilty nightmares about his own conduct and drinking too much as a result, he is soon waist-deep in Rashomon country. For the survivors of the episode tell conflicting stories, some of which hint--hold on for more ironies--that Walden might actually have behaved badly. Or might have been herself victimized by friendly fire...
...Justice (Warner Books; $24.95), written with Larkin Warren. There are no bombshells here, but both lawyers take the reader on a breathless you-are-there ride, evoking once again all the emotions of that fevered epoch in this country's history. Which emotions, of course, depends on whose Rashomon-like tale you are reading at the time...
That said, it is obvious to the viewer why "Rashomon" is considered a masterpiece. The film's plot is extraordinarily simple. The frame narrative of the film, set in the 8th century, takes place at the Rashomon, the great gate of the imperial city of Kyoto, which lies in ruins. A woodcutter, a Buddhist priest and a traveler have gathered at the gate to seek shelter from torrential rain, and to pass the time they discuss a trial of a crime that took place some days before. A samurai and his wife were traveling through the woods. They were assaulted...
...film, we are no closer to knowing the truth, and that is in great measure the movie's theme, the very unknowability of truth. Kurosawa's film has become so associated with this notion that the word "rashomon" has passed into the language, and is used to describe a situation in which the truth cannot be known. This notion of truth is a slight and hackneyed one. That Kurosawa was able to create "Rashomon" from this is a testament to his mastery and genius; it is a case of a film rising above its material. "Rashomon" is an example...