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.

WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS (1960)

Keiko (played by Hideko Takamine) is lovingly referred to as Mama to everybody in her little world.  She's the hostess of one of the 700+ bars in the Ginza district of Tokyo that cater to well-to-do businessmen. It's not a whorehouse, but more like a laid back nightclub where men can come and relax and hang out with sexy chicks and, who knows, you might get lucky. At 30-years-old Mama is older than most of the girls, but because she's a widow and has never slept with a customer she has developed a kind of reverence among the customers and the other girls.

When we meet Mama she's at a crossroads in her life. Should she try to marry one of the rich customers or should she try to gather up enough money to open her own bar? That's the two main choices she has, but as we all know, life has a way of throwing you all kinds of unexpected twists.

To most people that probably sounds boring, but thanks to Naruse's masterful direction, the amazing screenplay by Ryuzo (THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, YOJIMBO, SANJURO) Kikushima and such wonderful acting by everybody, including Tatsuya Nakadai as the bar manager who secretly in love with Mama, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.  Lovely music, good pace, beautiful photography...I cannot say enough wonderful things about this movie.  Highly recommended.  It gets even better with repeat viewings.