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Rashomon (Rashômon)
In Heian-era Kyoto, a woodcutter and a Buddhist monk, taking shelter from a downpour under the Rashōmon gate, have just returned from giving evidence in a trial about the murder of a samurai, and are baffled at the conflicting stories they have heard. They are joined by a commoner, who asks to hear what happened. The film intercuts the discussions of the three men at the gate with flashbacks of witness testimonies and reconstructions of the events described.
The woodcutter gives evidence that he had found the body of the samurai three days earlier, alongside the man's cap, his wife's hat, pieces of rope, and an amulet. He had been killed with a sword. The monk states that he had seen the samurai on the day of the murder traveling on foot, accompanying his wife on horseback.
A policeman presents the main suspect, a captured bandit named Tajōmaru. In Tajōmaru's version of events, he follows the couple after seeing them in the woods, and lures the samurai away with the prospect of buried treasure. Tying the man up, he returns to rape his wife, who tries to defend herself with a dagger, but ultimately submits. Ashamed of her dishonor, the wife asks Tajōmaru to fight with her husband, saying she will belong to the man who wins. Tajōmaru agrees and kills the samurai (supposedly in an honorable way), only to find that the wife has fled.
The wife, having been found by the police, tells a different story. In her version, Tajōmaru leaves immediately after raping her. She frees her husband from his bonds, but he stares at her with contempt and loathing. The wife approaches him with her dagger, and then faints. She awakens to find her husband dead, with the dagger in his chest. In shock, she wanders through the forest until coming upon a pond in which she unsuccessfully tries to drown herself.
The dead samurai's testimony is heard through a Shinto medium. In his version, after raping the wife, Tajōmaru asks her to marry him. She accepts, but asks Tajōmaru to kill her husband first. Shocked at her fickleness, Tajōmaru gives the samurai the choice to let her go or have her killed. The wife breaks free and flees, with Tajōmaru unsuccessfully giving chase. Some hours later, Tajōmaru returns and releases the samurai, who then kills himself with his wife's dagger. Later, he feels someone remove the dagger from his chest, but cannot tell who.
Back at the Rashōmon gate, the woodcutter proclaims all three stories to be false, and repeats that the samurai was killed with a sword, not a dagger. Pressed by the commoner, the woodcutter admits that he had actually seen the murder but says that he lied to avoid getting into trouble. In the woodcutter's telling, Tajōmaru promises to marry the wife after raping her. She breaks free and releases her husband, expecting him to kill the assailant. However, the samurai refuses to fight, unwilling to risk his life for a ruined woman. Tajōmaru retracts his promise. The wife taunts them both, demanding that they fight for her. They fight unwillingly and clumsily. When the samurai is disarmed and begs for his life, Tajōmaru kills him. The wife flees, and Tajōmaru steals the samurai's sword and limps away.
The woodcutter, the monk, and the commoner are interrupted by the sound of a crying baby. They find a child abandoned at the gate along with a kimono and an amulet. The commoner attempts to steal the items, and the woodcutter rebukes him. The commoner deduces that the woodcutter had lied not because he feared getting into trouble, but because he had stolen the wife's dagger and needed to avoid it appearing in his evidence. The commoner leaves, mocking the others.
The monk attempts to soothe the baby. Having lost his faith in humanity after the events of the trial, when the woodcutter attempts to take the child, he recoils. The woodcutter explains that he intends to raise the child along with his own children, and the monk softens, his faith restored. As the woodcutter leaves with the child in his arms, the rain stops.