The Rashomon Restoration Project
October 21st 2008 05:07
Ten years ago the film world lost legendary director Akira Kurosawa (23/3/10 – 6-9-98). Now, Kadokawa Pictures has joined forces with the Film Foundation and A.M.P.A.S.® to digitally restore one of Kurosawa’s greatest films – ‘Rashomon’. Released in Japan on August 6 1950 and internationally very soon after. Rashomon was immediately recognised by critics and moviegoers alike that this movie was a significant achievement in cinema so much so that it received the Golden Lion in Venice in 1951 and an Oscar© for Best Foreign Film the following year.
“Considering Rashomon's arts and cultural values, Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation, The Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Science in the US, and The Film Foundation decided to support the restoration project. Rashomon is the first Japanese film to be restored by the Academy and the Film Foundation.” Foundation members stated in a recent press release.
RASHOMON is only the fourth Japanese film to be digitally restored and in another first for Japanese cinema, the digital restoration will be done at 4K for the first trial.
The project is supervised by Michael Pogorzelski, the director of the Academy Film Archive and a renowned film archivist. From Japan, the National Film Center joins the project to provide technical and academic advice.
The restored film was shown on September 18th at the Samuel Goldwin Theater as a special event of KUROSAWA retrospective "Akira Kurosawa: Film Artist" and should be available for general release in the very near future.
Restoration Process: Scanning Rashomon at 4K to digitize the film =Restoring damaged film as digital data=Recording out the restored film at 4K on a new film stock (producing a new negative). The picture restoration is handled by Lowry Digital and YCM laboratory. The audio restoration was done by DJ Audio and Audio Mechanics (Burbank, CA)
Digitally restored Japanese feature films to date: Shin Heike Monogatari (Kadokawa Pictures/Kenji Mizoguchi/1955), 24 Eyes (Shochiku/Keisuke Kinoshita/1954), Vessel of Sand (Shochiku/Yoshitaro Nomura/1974)
Comments from those involved,
"I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the support of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The National Film Center, and The Film Foundation, in the restoration of Rashomon. This has been a significant cultural collaboration between Japan and the United States….. I deeply hope that the presentation of Kurosawa's digitally restored masterpiece on the 10th anniversary of his death will contribute to a deeper understanding of the importance of film preservation as the key to our rich cultural heritage, and to a renewed appreciation of the Japanese cinema on the part of future generations."
----Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, chairman of The Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation
"Kadokawa Pictures' archive consists of films made by Daiei Studios, Kadokawa Pictures, and Nippon Herald Pictures. Thanks to the help of the National Film Center, in 2004 we started the preservation and restoration of this important heritage with the support of the Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation. I believe that the digitally restored Rashomon will become a touchstone for cinema preservation… Now, Kurosawa's Rashomon, more than 50 years old, will appear on the screen with the same power and beauty as when it was first released” ----Taiichi Inoue, president of Kadokawa Pictures
LINKS
Rashomon site by Kadokawa Pictures
AMPAS
The Film Foundation
National Film Center - The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Release Date - August 26th, 1950
Cast
Toshiro Mifune ... Tajomaru
Machiko Kyo ... Masago Kanazawa
Takashi Shimura ... Woodcutter
Masayuki Mori ... Takehiro Kanazawa
Minoru Chiaki ... Priest
Kichijiro Ueda ... Commoner
Noriko Honma ... Medium
Daisuke Kato ... Policeman
CREW.
Director... Akira Kurosawa
Scenario... Akira Kurosawa / Shinobu Hashimoto
Based on two stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Photography ... Kazuo Miyagawa
Recording...Iwao Otani
Art director ... Takashi Matsuyama
Music... Fumio Hayasaka
Lighting ... Kenichi Okamoto
Story
One rainy day in 12th century Japan, a monk and a woodcutter sat deep in thought under the half broken city gate of Rashomon. A man rushed into the gate, seeking shelter from the pouring rain. After being asked, the monk and the woodcutter began to tell the newcomer their mysterious story.
A famous robber named Tajyomaru attacked a samurai and his wife in a forest. The robber was captured and put on trial, however the accounts of the three participants were significantly different to each other.
Aspect ratio 1.37 : 1 / B&W / MONO / Nine reels / 2046m / 88minutes
Awards
Venice Film Festival (1951) - Golden Lion: Akira Kurosawa and Italian Film Critics Award: Akira Kurosawa
Honorary Award (Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film) (1952)- 25th Academy Awards, USA (1953) - Won: Academy Honorary Award, Nominated: Academy
Mainichi Film Concours (1951) - Best Actress: Machiko Kyo (Japan)
The film took the number five spot on Kinema Junpo's top ten list for 1950
Production of Daiei Kyoto Studio
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