It seems that RASHOMON is a film that experiences some backlash from cinephiles. There was recently a 35mm print screened here in Memphis by Janus Films as part of the Indie Memphis Film Festival, and an article in the local newsweekly accused the film of being “intellectually suspect” and stated that the musings of the monk, the woodcutter, and drifter feel like sophomoric undergrad examinations of human nature. A lot of people misremember things about RASHOMON, which is amusing given the nature of the story itself. The set-up for the tale is told to us once and is never altered, it is the act of murder that is altered constantly by the people re-telling the story. Their lies make perfect sense, as each version makes the person telling the story appear more noble. While it’s hardly subtle, it doesn’t really need to be, and its story frame is an excellent one. It’s also not the perfect film people make it out to be, even with its short running time there are sections that drag and could’ve been cut down, but it’s an excellent film and deserves to be regarded as such.