BFI to Release Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon on Blu-ray

Posted August 24, 2015 05:20 PM by


The British Film Institute has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Akira Kurosawa's classic film Rashômon (1950), starring Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, and Minoru Chiaki. The release will be available for purchase on September 21. A woodcutter witnesses a horrific series of events – an ambush, rape and murder. In the telling of the tale, however, each of the four participants gives a different view of what actually happened – is anyone telling the truth? Kurosawa's masterly and influential film plays on the subjective nature of truth while unfurling a riveting tale of violence and greed. The first film to alert Western audiences to the riches of Japanese cinema, it was remade in Hollywood as The Outrage, starring Paul Newman, and is credited as a key influence on Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. Special Features: Restored in High Definition New audio commentary by Kurosawa expert Stuart Galbraith IV Rashômon at 65 (Stuart Galbraith IV, 2015, 34 mins): documentary visiting some of Rashômon's key locations, featuring interviews with former staff from the Daiei-Kyoto Studios John Boorman on Rashômon (6 mins), introduction by director John Boorman (Deliverance, The Emerald Forest) Illustrated booklet with a new essay by Stuart Galbraith IV and full credits
Source: Blu-ray.com \| Permalink \|

News comments (5 comments)

Top reviewer

sjt

Aug 24, 2015

Well, fine in principle, though the extras look like fairly slim pickings (would it have been impossible to have got Fox to cough up MGM's "The Outrage" for purposes of compare and contrast, even with Newman's toe-curling turn as a Mehican bandeet?) Let's hope the transfer's good....

lokipei

Aug 24, 2015

Good that the extras a different to the Criterion including a different commentary. Might be worth a double dip.

WilsonBros

Aug 25, 2015

@lokipei: If it's against Criterion, DVDBeaver will doubtless have a different perspective on that one...

Top contributor

TheNakedGenius

Aug 25, 2015

BFI's other releases of Kurosawa films haven't really compared to the Criterion releases, unfortunately. I hope the video quality is more impressive for this one