RASHOMON (1950)

Opening in a fierce rainstorm we find two men (a woodcutter and a priest) taking shelter in the dilapidated ruins of a old city gate.  A third man (a commoner) runs in from the rain and sees that both men look very troubled and deep in thought.  They tell him of a rape and murder that happened a few days ago.  This is where RASHOMON makes movie history, because instead of just telling a straightforward story it tells the same story from multiple viewpoints.

The woodcutter and the priest tell the commoner about how earlier in court (yes, these stories themselves are told secondhand) the bandit, the wife, the police agent and the victim (who's story is told via a medium!) all told their versions of the story and we, the viewer, see them played out.  Added to this the priest and the woodcutter also saw some of what happened in person and they tell the commoner.  So in all we get six different people telling the story (or a portion of the story) and for all we know they could all be incorrect!

Added to this novel approach at storytelling we get some masterful cinematography by Kazuo (UGETSU, FLOATING WEEDS) Miyagawa, great acting by an impressive cast (I was especially blown away by Machiko Kyo who I thought was fantastic!), haunting music by Fumio (UGETSU, SEVEN SAMURAI) Hayasaka, great editing (by Kurosawa himself), a legendary script by Shinobu (SEVEN SAMURAI, HARAKIRI) Hashimoto and Akira Kurosawa and the best direction by Kurosawa up to this point in his career.

I doubt that younger audiences will care for it, but anybody interested in Cinema history, especially Japanese Cinema history should check it out.  Highly recommended.

THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965)

Slow at times, but overall touching story of a simple carpenter, Anton Brtko, who, in the early days of WWII, is suddenly named the "Aryan manager" of a small sewing supply shop ran by an elderly Jewish widow, Mrs. Lautmannova.  Brtko isn't too comfortable with the situation and when he tries to explain what's happening to Mrs. Lautmannova she's so hard of hearing and just plain old that she has no idea what he's talking about.  Eventually she comes to believe that he is her nephew there to help her run the store.  As time goes by Brtko keeps up the facade and their relationship grows...then the Nazi's come to take away the Jews.

Although the story is sad, it's really not as sad as it could have been.  To begin with Brtko isn't that likeable of a guy and yeah, I really felt sorry for Mrs. Lautmannova but she was so senile that she was pretty much clueless.  Also the Nazi's were assholes, of course, but they could have easily been portrayed as much worse.  Good film, with a promising story premise, but it could have been told much more powerfully than it was.  Something in the back of my mind tells me that Mikhail Kalatozov would have made an a much more satisfying film from this story.  That's just my two cents.  It's still worth watching.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006)

Set in 1984, THE LIVES OF OTHERS tells the compelling story of a German Democratic Republic Staatssicherheit (Stasi) officer Gerd Wiesler. He's in charge of secret surveillance on a popular playwright, Georg Dreyman, who might be harboring anti-GDR feelings. Wiesler cannot find anything wrong with Dreyman. Wiesler soon discovers the real reason for the surveillance is one of the high officials has the hots for Dreyman's girlfriend and wants Dreyman out of the picture. Wiesler's been in the secret police business for a long time, but even so (or maybe because so) he still has a small spark of humanity left inside of him.

I really enjoyed THE LIVES OF OTHERS and after watching it I'm anxious to read some books about the subject. I found the whole idea interesting, but I was really intriguing that the GDR officials, even though they were doing something as highly unethical as bugging a person's home, still felt it important that they actually get concrete proof the person is guilty of whatever it is they're accused you of. Why even put on the charade? Another thing I found interesting was after the Stasi raid Dreyman's home and wreck the joint (tossing over furniture, cutting open sofa cushions) they left him a card to report any damaged stuff! What's the point of that?!  Mind games?

I kinda went off subject, so I'll just conclude by saying TLOO is excellent and you should watch it. The subject is fascinating, the filming locations look very authentic and the acting by everyone is perfect. It's easy to see why it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. Hell, in my opinion, it's even better than THE DEPARTED which actually won Best Picture that year.