Classics from the land of the rising sun.

Got a chance to see Rashomon from home - My first Kurosawa movie, having missed the screening of "Dreams" at collective chaos. The film is about how a single incident is described by four different people with totally contrasting endings. A wayside robber, lured by the beauty of the young wife of a warrior crossing the woods attacks the couple and assaults the lady. Her husband gets killed. This episode has four different endings, as told by the robber, the wife, the spirit of the deadman and a wood-cutter passing-by, each one showing the warrior being killed by different people. The director has not revealed the actual event but just left it as four different versions. Each person chose to tailor the story to his/her vagaries. The movie has been taken without too many frills and the narration has not crossed that fine line which separates vivid portrayal from boring exhaustive detail.

What struck me most about the movie is the way it has brought out that unavoidable aspect of human nature, how each one of us consciously or unconsciously add on to or delete seemingly insignificant incidents that happen everyday. Be it typing something like i am doing write now to miniscule things like mentioning the time, we all do tend to lie..or rather to avoid such a strong word, formulate our own truths. All in all, the movie really set me thinking. Not a must watch, but if you are in the habit of exploring movies, it is worth a sitting.

Speaking of movies, I missed The Hitchiker's guide and The Schindler's list, both of which i really did want to see.