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Legalized Rashomon Remake on the Horizon at Harbor Light

by Kevin Powers
September 23, 2008

Back in 1950, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa released an award-winning puzzle of a drama called Rashomon that surrounded the rape of a wife and the apparent murder of her husband. Today, that film has been picked up by Harbor Light Entertainment and is slated to be Americanized come 2010. The studio actually announced the project back in 2001, but has had little success in getting it greenlit; that is until various international studios came in to partake in the project. Variety states that in retrofitting the film to American audiences, a court will decide the facts around the crimes. In setting the film in modern-day legal proceedings, I imagine it's unlikely that the dead husband's perspective will carry over.

The central story of the original Rashomon deals with the rape and murder, which is retold in flashbacks from four different points of view: the rapist, the dead husband (via a medium), the raped wife and a random woodcutter. A hallmark of the original was that the various stories were so contradictory, the audience really had to make an effort to determine what was the truth. Not a bad setup, but I certainly hope this doesn't end up like Vantage Point. Beyond that, the new English-language version of Rashomon seems like it could be a pretty solid thriller. I can't say I'm overly intrigued at this point, given the volumes of "Law and Order" and "The Practice" I've consumed over the years, but I'll wait for more to surface.

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Red Buttons

I believe there is also a remastered version this masterpiece being released soon as well. Does anyone know the date.
REAL6

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peloquin

Real6, no need to yell at Red Buttons; he just wanted to find out if anyone knew the release date. )
http://my.spill.com/profile/Kent KEnt

GOD WHY? oh it's 60 years old so no one remembers it right?
Sephiroth87

What's the point in raping a wonderful movie but calling it a remake? Couldn't they just do a "Law and Order: the Movie"?
Sigfrid

Why? Just tell me why this sort of things happen? Americanized? This is really really sad.
Mario Tenorio

What a masterpiece this is, I haven't seen this one since my adolescence, Thanks for the reminder.
The Real Alex

Yet ANOTHER fucking example of Asian film being WHITE WASHED..... Oh well, this idea is not as ridiculous as "Neo-New York" in the upcoming white-washed Akira movie....
Red Buttons

I was talking about the original and its remastered DVD release date. But i also feel that we must get used to this Americanization of foreign films. It is just to easy for them to copy, look at "quarantine" its a perfect example. It has also spilled over to TV. Apparently ABC or another network is making a "how not to live your life" which just finished airing not even a week ago. Although thankfully I hear "little Britain USA" is still very British. But i guess that is the world we live in.
Zach D.

Pointless.
lando

Kurosawa remake AND an american Akira movie? What? Damn! Is our attention span so bad that we cant just go look at the original masterpieces anymore?!?!??!?! this is getting crazy! if studios really want us to see these old classics, then they should just clean em up and run them as special engagements! I would hate to see "Citizen Kane, Rosebud returns" or "Touch of evil, 09 reboot"!! watch the originals, they almost always tend to be better anyway!
Edwin

The "press release" was actually from an Asian Variety article that didn't quite get it right. It isn't taking place in a court room, nor is it a "remake" - more of a re-telling. And, this is a co-production with Kurosawa Productions. There have been so many rip-offs of the original (and none of them have come close to the real "Rashomon Effect"). It is time that both the Kurosawa's and the legacy be paid the respect they deserve. Thanks. BTW, RASHOMON 2010 is just a working title (ala A.K. 100). The digitally remastered print of the original was shown at the Academy this past month. Both Kurosawa's & Mifune's sons (and Mifune's grandson) were in attendance.