Rashomon

Rashomon


羅生門
Rashōmon

Director Akira Kurosawa
Original Story Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Screenplay Akira Kurosawa
Shinobu Hashimoto
Photography Kazuo Miyagawa
Sound Iwao Otani
Art Takashi Matsuyama
Music Fumio Hayasaka
Lighting Kenichi Okamoto
Editor Shigeo Nishida
Production Companies Daiei
Release Date August 26, 1950
Runtime 88 minutes

羅生門
Rashōmon

Director Akira Kurosawa
Original Story Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Screenplay Akira Kurosawa
Shinobu Hashimoto
Photography Kazuo Miyagawa
Sound Iwao Otani
Art Takashi Matsuyama
Music Fumio Hayasaka
Lighting Kenichi Okamoto
Editor Shigeo Nishida
Production Companies Daiei
Release Date August 26, 1950
Runtime 88 minutes

A woodcutter finds a dead body in the woods. A thief, the dead man’s widow, and a medium testify at the investigation. The thief, Tajomaru, boasts that he killed the man and ravished his wife, and later escaped with the man’s possessions. The widow, on the other hand, testifies that after being ravished her husband gave her such a look of disgust that she killed him out of fear, and later attempted suicide before being brought to the court. Finally, the medium, speaking for the dead man, testifies that after being ravished the wife urged Tajomaru to kill him, to preserve her honor. Tajomaru, in disgust, chased the wife into the woods. Left alone and distraught at his wife’s treatment of him, the man killed himself by plunging his ruby dagger into his chest. Each account has an element of truth to it, but none of them quite explains all the facts either. The ruby dagger, for instance, figures into all the accounts, but is itself missing.

The woodcutter reminisces over the case with a priest under the Rashomon gate. The priest is crestfallen that people would lie so, that the truth would be lost. A passing peasant, stumbling upon their conversation, presses the woodcutter for his side of the story. The woodcutter reluctantly admits that he was hiding in the woods witnessing events as they unfolded. After being ravished, the wife begged one of the two men to kill her, so she wouldn’t live with the dishonor. Her husband cast her off, insisting she should kill herself. The wife accused both men of being cowards, and goaded them into dueling each other. Tajomaru and the husband did duel, and when Tajomaru finally did slay the husband, he and the wife were so overcome with fear that they fled.

Back under the Rashomon gate, the peasant stumbles upon an abandoned child, and takes its blanket. The woodcutter tries to intervene, but the peasant accuses him of being no better than any of the witnesses; the peasant believes the woodcutter himself stole the ruby dagger from the scene. Unable to argue with the peasant, the woodcutter lets him go. The priest intends to keep and care for the child in the temple, but the woodcutter determines to raise the child himself alongside his own children. The woodcutter’s gesture restores the priest’s faith in humanity.

Top Billed Cast

Toshiro Mifune
Tajomaru the Bandit
Machiko Kyo
The Wife
Takashi Shimura
The Woodcutter
Masayuki Mori
The Husband
Minoru Chiaki
The Priest
Kichijiro Ueda
The Peasant
Noriko Honma
The Medium
Daisuke Kato
The Bailiff
Top Billed Cast

Tajomaru the Bandit

The Wife
Machiko Kyo

The Woodcutter

The Husband
Masayuki Mori

The Priest

The Peasant

The Medium
Noriko Honma

The Bailiff
製作
Producer
箕浦甚吾
Shogo Minoura
企画
Planning
本木荘二郎
Sojiro Motoki
原作
Original Story
芥川龍之介
Ryunosuke Akutagawa
脚本
Screenplay
黒澤明
Akira Kurosawa

橋本忍
Shinobu Hashimoto
撮影
Photography
宮川一夫
Kazuo Miyagawa
録音
Sound
大谷巌
Iwao Otani
美術
Art
松山崇
Tadashi Matsuyama
音楽
Music
早坂文雄
Fumio Hayasaka
照明
Lighting
岡本健一
Kenichi Okamoto
編集
Editor
西田重雄
Shigeo Nishida
装置
Apparatus
山本䢴一郎
Yuichiro Yamamoto
製作主任
Production Manager
小林利勝
Toshikatsu Kobayashi
助監督
Assistant Director
加藤泰
Tai Kato
撮影助手
Photography Assistant
本田平三
Heizo Honda
録音助手
Sound Assistant
林土太郎
Tsuchitaro Hayashi
照明助手
Lighting Assistant
中岡源
Gen Nakaoka
美術助手
Art Assistant
右田誠一
Seiichi Okada
記録
Archiving
野上照代
Teruyo Nogami
演技事務
Actor Affairs
中村元次郎
Motojiro Nakamura
進行
Progress
竹内次郎
Jiro Takeuchi
背景
Background
太田多三郎
Tasaburo Ota
装飾
Decoration
松本春造
Haruzo Matsumoto
美粧
Beauty
明石悦夫
Etsuo Akashi
結髪
Hair Dressing
花井りつ
Ritsu Hanai
衣索
Clothing
大畠卯一
Uichi Ohata
スチール
Stills
浅田延之助
Masayuki Asada
効果
Effects
山根正一
Shoichi Yamane
擬闘
Fighting Choreography
宮内昌平
Shohei Miyauchi
出演者
Performers


三船敏郎
Toshiro Mifune

京マチ子
Machiko Kyo

志村喬
Takashi Shimura

森雅之
Masayuki Mori

千秋実
Minoru Chiaki

上田吉二郎
Kichijiro Ueda

本間文子
Noriko Honma

加東大介
Daisuke Kato
監督
Director
黒澤明
Akira Kurosawa