Rashomon
| |
|---|
| Poster Origin : | Germany |
| Poster Size : | German A1 / 594 x 841mm |
| Poster Artist : | Hans Hillmann |
| Poster Year : | 1962 |
| Poster Version : | Re-Release |
| Film Origin : | Japan |
| Film Director : | Akira Kurosawa |
| Film Year : | 1950 |
Hillmann’s magnificent Rashomon design represents the attack/rape/murder incident in a visual metaphor for the theme of truth, and its many guises.
The watercolour figures are rendered in a similar naïve style to Hillmann’s colourful Seven Samurai poster (1962), also employing typical early ’60s neo-grotesque type, but with an altogether different outcome - here a subdued monochrome identifies Rashomon’s dark mood and sombre subject, and also conveys the notion that truth is subjective and indefinite; nothing is black or white, only endless shades of grey.
The image, divided into four strips, depicts different aspects of the incident. Like filmstrip stills or pieces of a jigsaw, the fragments try to create a meaningful whole but none of the pieces align and the complete picture is obscured. Each slice represents a subjective point-of-view of the incident as seen by one of the four witnesses, and like their four conflicting testimonies the overall is fractured and inconsistent; identifying a whole conclusive truth is impossible.