The Kurosawa Century #2: Narrative and Structure: Rashomon (1950) & The Hidden Fortress (1958)

Rashomon (1950, 88 Minutes)

In the post-truth world of the 21st century, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon offers some guidance. The film announced Kurosawa as a major new voice in global cinema with its stunning cinematography and experimental approach to narrative. Based on short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the story provides four varying accounts of a rape and subsequent murder. The film is framed as a Buddhist monk, and a woodcutter relate their experience to a commoner. 

In 2026, I estimate there are roughly three types of news consumers with some variation:

1) The Credulous: They take their cues from influencers, political leaders, podcasters, slanted news channels to provide talking points to reinforce their reality. Anyone outside the bubble of their informational ecosystem is highly suspect.

2) The Cynics: They don't believe anything they see or hear from the media. They might proudly proclaim to be politically independent or simply go by gut instinct when voting. Perhaps they've been lied to and deceived by so many people in positions of power, ranging from family to politicians, but they all news as propaganda.

3) The Discerning: They still believe in truth, while accepting bias is a real thing in news reporting. They cultivate traditional and digital media, read books, and always question their conclusions and display willingness to change their views when new evidence arises. Obviously, this approach requires time and effort. 

In 1950 your everyday person might subscribe to one or two newspapers covering local and national news. TV was still in its infancy. It's not as if that world was much better, narratives remained nebulous, and crushing world events led to an infinite number of harrowing experiences. Ask anyone about their experiences during the war or depression and you will hear all sorts of stories, experiences that shaped people for life. 

But back to feudal Japan. The atmosphere in the open scene looks and feels otherworldly. The monk and the woodcutter are in despair after witnessing the contradictory accounts of the crime. The towering pillars of the gate and pouring rain (a Kurosawa motif in many films) gives one the sense they are sole survivors of a catastrophe as they ponder the final verdict on humanity. They mutter, "I don't understand, I just don't understand" and "year after year, disaster after disaster."

Kurosawa applied a flashback within flashback structure. We have four accounts of the crime. The scene of the crime was in the forest, which also feels like a character. Everything happens in blinding sunlight. 

The first account is from the bandit Tajomaru played by Toshiro Mifune. In the forest he spotted a samurai traveling with his wife, he accosts them, tied up the husband and then raped his wife. She then demands they fight to the death to save her honor, in a heroic fight, Tajomuru kills the samurai. In the wife's testimony her husband refused to even look at her after the assault, she attempts to stab him with a dagger but faints, she later wakes up to find her husband dead of a stab wound. 

Next, a medium testifies claiming to inhabit the spirit of the dead husband. In this version, the wife agrees to marry Tajomaru on the condition he kill her husband. In despair at his wife's betrayal, her husband stabs himself.

The fourth account comes from the woodcutter who witnessed the whole thing. His narrative is like an odd synthesis of the previous three accounts. After the rape, Tajomaru offers marriage, but she refuses and unties her husband and then orders them both to fight. Unlike the earlier heroic fight, this one is clumsy and half-hearted, but the samurai still ends up dead.

All the testimonies are self-serving in their own way. The truth of what happened will probably never be known. But that doesn't mean there's no such thing as truth. We tend to construct narratives about our lives we find bearable; human beings struggle with being honest with themselves. 

Rashomon reminds us that truth seeking requires courage from within, which is often at cross purposes with our own selfish natures. In today's digital world of algorithms, one's "truth" will be reinforced repeatedly, no matter how far untethered from reality. 

In the final scene, a crying baby is discovered at the gate, presumably left there by desperate parents. The woodcutter agrees to take the child with him to join his seven children. The monk feels hope for the first time. Even in a world where truth is ever elusive and people struggle with honesty
from within and without, they still have the choice to make the ethical decision. 

While the world is full of corruption and self-serving narratives, the pursuit of truth remains a worthy endeavor. Today's climate makes people believe odd things and come to even stranger conclusions. When your old friend from college you remember as a thoughtful dude now repeatedly posts about low birth rates and western civilization, your aging aunt posting 20 stories a day from Fox News, or a former mentor who believes Trump's brain will be plugged into a super AI computer that will allow him to stay in power until the 2080s - don't despair, watch Rashomon. 

The Hidden Fortress (1958, 142 Minutes)

The Hidden Fortress, along with The Seven Samurai, shaped the contours of epic cinema. Often remembered as a primary influence on George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars, Kurosawa himself was heavily inspired by the films of John Ford. The film's reverberating tones of slapstick humor, proto-blockbuster spectacle, and heightened heroism feel modern. The widescreen format, Tohoscope, created unforgettable cinematography of the landscapes, from rocky hills to majestic mountains. 

Set in 16th century feudal Japan, the story follows two peasants Tahei and Mataschichi who get caught up in a war between competing clans. After they escape capture, they discover some gold and run into General Rokurota Makabe (Mifune) who they believe is a common criminal. He leads them to more gold and leads them to a hidden fortress, where he hopes to lead beleaguered Princess Yuki to across enemy lines. 

Along the way, there are many narrow escapes, a suspenseful lance duel, a stunning fire festival, moments of greed and cowardice, but also loyalty and compassion. The symmetrical compositions, constant movement of the camera, a visual momentum. Nature becomes a character itself. Some of the cultural morays might be missed by Western audiences, such as class distinction and the significance of the fire festival when those barriers are temporarily ignored. Gold symbolizes not treasure but a rebirth of status for a clan. 

The Star Wars connections are clear. Princess Yuki was a template Leia and Padme; The Phantom Menace drew on The Hidden Fortress more than the A New Hope. The two peasants are the template for R2-D2 and 3CPO, Lucas was intrigued at how Kurasawa told the story through the lowest characters on the social hierarchy. And General Makabe was for both Han Solo and Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

The Hidden Fortress is best appreciated on the big screen, but it also plays on television. It's a must see for anyone interested in the genesis of modern cinema.