is a 1950 Japanese period drama (jidaigeki) film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a samurai was murdered in a forest. The plot and characters are based upon Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's short story "In a Grove", with the title and framing story taken from Akutagawa's "Rashōmon". Every element is largely identical, from the murdered samurai speaking through a Shinto psychic to the bandit in the forest, the monk, the assault of the wife, and the dishonest retelling of the events in which everyone shows their ideal self by lying.

Plot

In Heian-era Kyoto, a woodcutter and a Buddhist monk, taking shelter from a downpour under the Rashōmon gate, have just returned from giving evidence in a trial about the murder of a samurai, and are baffled at the conflicting stories they have heard. They are joined by a commoner, who asks to hear what happened. The film intercuts the discussions of the three men at the gate with flashbacks of witness testimonies and reconstructions of the events described.

Awards