Film - Rashomon

Akira Kurosawa's hugely influential 1950 historical crime drama, Rashomon, is back in cinemas UK-wide, and on BFIPlayer, from 6th January 2023. Watch the new trailer...

Press Release

Unreliable narration is taken to a new level in this landmark film, one of Akira Kurosawa’s finest and a key work of Japanese cinema.

Honour, truth and treachery clash in this monumental drama, where a crime is witnessed and experienced from multiple perspectives. The story concerns a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) who witnesses a horrific series of events - an ambush, the rape of a noblewoman (Machiko Kyo) and the subsequent murder of her samurai husband (Mayasuki Mori) by a bandit (Toshiro Mifune). Yet, in the recounting of the incidents at the trial, differing versions come from all involved, thus raising questions about the reliability of subjective 'truth'.




BFI Distribution brings the film back to cinemas around the UK and on BFI Player from 6th January, coinciding with the first month of the BFI's two-month KUROSAWA retrospective. Find out more on the BFI website.

Image - BFI