Liars of cinema – The legacy of “Rashomon”
Exploring films with not-so-true narratives inspired by the Japanese classic “Rashomon” 73 years after it hit American theaters.
“Rashomon,” a classic by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, made waves worldwide in the early 1950s with its revolutionary narrative style that revolves around an ensemble cast of liars. The story follows four witnesses to the alleged murder of a samurai (Masayuki Mori) and the assault of his wife (Machiko Kyō). The accused killer, the dead samurai (speaking through a medium), the wife, and a random passerby all give different accounts of what occurred in the woods. As the tale unfolds, elements of the various stories converge and diverge, leading viewers to continuously question which story to believe.
While “Rashomon” was not the first film to feature an unreliable narrator, Kurosawa’s use of multiple characters telling slight variations of the same story was quite unique at the time. Unlike previous films that played with uncertainty by leaving the audience in the dark, in “Rashomon” the audience knows that they are being lied to from the start. It is up to them to decide exactly who to trust.
Within the film, Kurosawa planted the seeds for a new form of storytelling to emerge, inspiring the use of shaky narratives in film for decades to come. The following list of films bear a striking resemblance to “Rashomon,” demonstrating the film’s lasting legacy more than seven decades after its release.
“La Vérité” (1960) dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
Through the intercut of flashbacks and present-day courtroom scenes, “La Vérité” tells the story of the beautiful Dominique (Brigitte Bardot) and the alleged murder of her former lover, Gilbert (Sami Frey). When the police find the lovers in Gilbert’s apartment, Dominique is nearly dead from gas inhalation and Gilbert is riddled with bullets. The story of what occurred is told through Dominique’s personal statement and the testimony of her friends and foes, who recount her infidelity, mental instability, and trauma. With her personal reputation and love affair with Gilbert examined on trial, Dominique’s true hardships and intentions become clear as the story unravels messily.
“Last Year at Marienbad” (1961) dir. Alain Resnais
This classic from the French New Wave broke narrative barriers with its surreal, hazy story that takes place in a strange hotel. In the film, two strangers (Giorgio Albertazzi, Delphine Seyrig) approach each other, one claiming that the two of them had an affair the previous year and had planned to meet a year later. The woman claims that she has never seen the man in her life and has no recollection of their affair. Another mysterious man, who may be the woman’s husband, repeatedly attempts to disprove the protagonist through competitive games of nim. Drifting in and out of ambiguous flashbacks, the film plays with what may, or may not, have happened last year at Marienbad.
“F for Fake” (1973) dir. Orson Welles
Orson Welles, the man who fooled America with his fictional news broadcast “War of the Worlds,” investigates art forger Elmyr de Hory and his dishonest biographer Clifford Irving in this experimental documentary. Welles questions the nature of truth as he explores the multitude of professional art dealers who once believed de Hory’s pieces were authentic, along with the fact that Irving’s fictional “biographies” were met with critical praise before he was exposed for his mistruths. If everyone believes something to be true, does it become true?
“The Thin Blue Line” (1988) dir. Errol Morris
A documentary that was initially ridiculed for its imaginative style but later praised by American film critic Roger Ebert, “The Thin Blue Line” depicts the murder of Dallas cop Robert Wood. Pushing the boundaries between fact and fiction, the documentary switches between accounts by Randall Adams, the man convicted for the crime, and David Harris, the man who Adams claims should be imprisoned for the crime. Hired actors in the film reenact potential ways the fatal shooting of the cop may have gone down and slightly alter the scene based on who is telling the story. With innovative and unconventional stylization choices, Morris creates a disturbingly beautiful tone surrounding the brutal killing.
“Joint Security Area” (2000), “The Handmaiden” (2016), “Decision to Leave” (2022) dir. Park Chan-wook
False narratives have become something of a trademark for Korean director Park Chan-wook. Despite being most famous for his vicious thriller “Oldboy” (2003), the director shines in some of his lesser known movies through broken and untrue stories. “Joint Security Area” follows an unlikely friendship between soldiers (Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Kim Tae-woo, Lee Byung-hun) from opposing sides of the North/South Korean border, and examines the perplexing events that eventually lead to a bloodbath. Additionally, “The Handmaiden” is the story of a ruthless, deceitful scheme involving a con man (Ha Jung-woo), a maid (Kim Tae-ri), a heiress (Kim Min-hee), and a magnate (Cho Jin-woong) in 1930s Korea, while “Decision to Leave” follows a detective (Park Hae-il) and his investigation into a peculiar woman (Tang Wei) and the untimely death of her husband (Yoo Seung-mok). All three of these films burst with twists, lies and surprises while Park Chan-wook defines his modern style.
While Kurosawa has plenty of influential films, “Rashomon” may just be the most revolutionary, inspiring countless filmmakers to base their stories on lies rather than truth for years to come.