Rashomon

I want to like this movie. I love the idea of the same events not only being told from multiple viewpoints, but that each one is an unreliable narrator, and that there is almost no overlap between the stories, making reconciliation impossible. I love how this narrative device is used to explore the tendency of people to make themselves the unimpeachable hero of their own narrative. This isn't a case of faulty memory; this is four different people reframing the story entirely to put forward the best version of themselves and make everyone else the worst. I love how the filmmaking was inspired by silent movies, using angles and cinematography that was common of the silent movie era to let the images tell the story in places where words weren't necessary. I love how the swordfighting between the bandit and the husband isn't expertly staged and dance-like, nor is it two raged-out maniacs going hell-bent for leather, but instead two guys fighting with swords. It isn't elegant because a real fight isn't elegant. I love how the the characters in the wraparound are affected by the events relayed in the flashback, from the woodcutter's shame in stealing from the corpse to the priest losing and regaining his faith in humanity and God, and the world-weary cynicism of the traveler. I want to like this movie. I should like this movie. But it is so damned BORING. I could not muster any connection to this movie. Everything I appreciate about this movie is from an objective, disconnected place. I respect the movie's place in cinema history. But as I watched it, I felt nothing. I wasn't intrigued or pulled in, and I never cared about who was telling the truth. I know I'm in the minority on this one, and I wish I could rate it higher on merit alone, but I can't. I was just so profoundly uninterested. I would still suggest people watch it and make up their own mind ... but that more comes from a place of academic interest and historical respect than actual enjoyment.