NEWS

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The Davidson Film Club is pleased to invite you to a screening and discussion of the Oscar-winning Japanese classic “Rashomon” on Saturday, July 26, at 7:00 pm in the Armour Street Theatre in Davidson.

“Literally no exaggeration, one of the best movies ever.”

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Japan (1950, 1h28)

In Japanese with English subtitles

Discussion of the film will be led by Lawrence Toppman, former award-winning film, theater, and music critic for the Charlotte Observer.

*Memberships are sold out for this series.

Walk-ins are still welcome, $9 (NC sales tax included) at the door, cash or check (no credit cards). Walk-ins must apply for a seat in advance at alsingerman@davidson.edu. Walk-in seats are limited by availability.

Refreshments (red and white wine, bottled water, and snacks) will be made available by the Film Club.

Film Summary

“Rashomon” is a profound meditation on human nature told through the lens of several unreliable narrators. It relays the story of a sexual assault and murder from four differing perspectives with the principal players a wife, her husband, and a bandit all offering conflicting and self-serving accounts. Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, “Rashomon” is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.

Oscar for Most Outstanding Foreign Language Film, Golden Lion at Venice, 9 wins and 5 nominations in all.

Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 98%, Audience Score 93%.

R.T. Critics Consensus: “One of legendary director Akira Kurosawa’s most acclaimed films, Rashomon features an innovative narrative structure, brilliant acting, and a thoughtful exploration of reality versus perception.”

“It’s easy to forget that the movie offers more rewards than a dazzling superstructure. It’s beautifully shot, vividly performed and is ultimately an arresting pop treatise on the impossibility of objective truth.”

“A masterpiece in storytelling and a great way to get introduced to the great Japanese movie era. Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors in history (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ran, etc.). This is where I’d start with Kurosawa’s movies, it doesn’t stretch to oblivion and still has a fantastic story.”

“An amazing masterpiece! Everyone is untrustworthy, everyone will lie and cheat the story to make themselves the hero. In my opinion, “Rashomon” is by far the best work of Kurosawa. It shows the nature of humans when it comes to reliability. . .”

“A pillar of film history, there is no doubt “Rashomon” was extremely influential to an entire generation of filmmakers, and it remains relevant to this day. Rarely is a title so important that its very name becomes a shorthand for that type of storytelling device, but what Kurosawa did in this movie was groundbreaking.”

“This film utilizes one of my favorite story-telling techniques. I love when a plot is all about flashing back to the same story but telling it from different points of view. In fact, “Rashomon” might use that method more effectively than any other movie I’ve seen. It’s just fascinating because most movies use this type of plot strictly to show different points of view, but here they use it to talk about the vagaries of perception and memory. It’s one of those movies where they leave you hanging without telling you everything in the end.”

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We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers that only exists to bring you fine international fiction films and engage in stimulating discussion about them.

Hope that many of you will be at the July 26th screening of this fascinating cinematic masterpiece.

Alan
Alan Singerman
President, Davidson Film Club
alsingerman@davidson.edu
(704) 231-6736