Rashomon (1950) and Harakiri (1962)

I wrote about the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa just the other day.  And spoke of his philosophy and the impact his films had on me.  However, beyond just his impact on me, his films were incredibly influential for the world of film as a whole.  George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola were inspired by him and used elements of his films in some of their own and Sergio Leone outright stole the story of A Fistful of Dollars from Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.  Some influences are a little more subtle, like how Masaki Kobayashi, another Japanese director and friend of Kurosawa, borrowed from the story structure of Rashomon in his masterpiece Harakiri.

The stories are very different and the structure is used for a very different effect, but both films involve people sitting around telling stories that a form a larger story.  In Rashomon, it is used to show the perspectives of the different people involved in a crime.  In Harakiri, we are given small pieces of a story that gradually builds the tension of the situation in which the storytellers find themselves.

Rashomon is the film responsible for opening up the impressive Japanese film industry to the rest of the world.  The studio that made it did so entirely because of Kurosawa’s reputation, as the script confused them and they didn’t think it would make any money.  In Japan, it wasn’t that successful, but a representative of the Venice Film Festival saw the film and convinced the studio to submit it.  It went on to win the top prize of the Golden Lion and the critics choice award there.  From there it spread quickly around the world winning awards all over the place and even picked up an Oscar Nomination for best Art Direction.

The film opens on three men taking shelter from a torrential downpour at the famed Rashomon gate.  A woodcutter and a priest sit staring off into space trying to comprehend exactly what just happened.  They were both witnesses at a trial of a famed bandit who was accused of killing a samurai and raping his wife.  They both tell their stories and then explain the stories of the bandit, the woman, and even of the dead man who communicates through a medium.  All the stories are vastly different and between each telling of the story, the three men discuss which might be the truth.  This concept of multiple tellings of the same story being very different probably sounds very familiar, but rest assured this is what inspired all those copycats, in fact, the Rashomon effect is a real thing, look it up.

Harakiri has a slightly more traditional narrative, as the stories being told start to form a whole narrative.  This is a great example of a nonlinear storyline that would become popular much later.  The film is set a few years into a time of peace in Japan.  The clans are no longer warring and the demand for Samurai is greatly decreased.  Samurai were of too high a class to take jobs as laborers which left many without anyway to survive.  The story of a samurai going to a clan lord asking for an honorable place to commit ritual suicide (Harakiri) instead of living in poverty and disgrace spread across Japan.  In the story the great Lord was so impressed by his determination and conviction that he offered the Samurai a job within his clan.

Other Samurai followed suit only to be turned away with some money in their pockets.  The disgraceful act of feigning a desire to commit Harakiri only to get money was greatly looked down on by the great Lords.  Our story begins with a grizzled Samurai making just such a request.  He is cautioned with a story of a young Samurai making the same request and being forced to follow through with the ritual suicide.  Through further stories we learn of an existing relationship between the young samurai from before and the older one here in the present.  What follows is a tense story about the foolishness of a legalistic honor code and what that meant for all the out of work Samurai out in the world.

Rashomon can only be called a bit of an experiment with storytelling, in that it tells the same story in different ways.  There are so many techniques used that seem different and a bit off-putting.  Like when we see the trial, testimonies are given right to the camera with no shot of the judge at all.  Or in the woods when they are discussing the crime itself he’d mix in shots with the camera pointed directly at the sun.  One thing he did in the woods was try to make the scene feel like classic silent films and he succeeded both in the look and the score that played over the scenes.  This is not a film for everyone, but it’s importance in cinema history cannot be ignored and if you are at all curious about the history of film it’s definitely worth seeking out, or if you just like the idea of this kind of storytelling.

Harakiri on the other hand is a much more traditional storyline, that can be enjoyed by anyone willing to give subtitles a chance.  This film is what I like to call a slow burn.  The tension builds slowly and deliberately, but the story is so fascinating and it leaves you with just enough questions that you are fully involved throughout.  The acting is excellent and the themes are clear.  I’d consider this a fantastic introduction to the world of Japanese cinema.  

Rashomon 9/10

Harakiri 10/10