Rashomon Original Polish Film Poster

Rashomon (1951).

Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Kichijiro Ueda, Fumiko Honma, and Daisuke Kato. Directed by Akira Kurosawa.

Rashomon is a poster by Wojciech Fangor and was created in tribute to the famous film of the same title. While this very film of 1950 brought the name of Akira Kurosawa to the top of the world cinematography, Wojciech Fangor’s poster helped to popularise this work in Poland. The film’s script was based on two stories created by the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa: In a Grove and Rashomon. The film was first shown outside Japan in 1951, and from the very beginning it gained the admiration of critics and the audience, as confirmed by the numerous prizes bestowed on it e.g. the Golden Lion of the Venice Film Festival (which was underlined in the poster), the BAFTA award for the best foreign film, and an Honorary Academy Award for the most outstanding foreign language film of the year. Before 1956, when the category for Best Foreign Language Film was created, only seven films had been awarded this special, honorary prize.