The Woman in Question

Both "Five Angles on Murder" and the Kurosawa film "Rashomon" came out the same year, so it's very possible that neither film influenced the other-- though they sure have a similar style. Both films consist of a mystery and you see the story through different folks' eyes...and they have extremely different views on exactly what ACTUALLY happened. Both are worth seeing, though by many "Rashomon" is considered a classic.

When the film begins, a child finds a woman dead in her flat. Apparently she was murdered and the police interrogate several people to try to determine what happened. First is the landlady and her interview seems to dubious value as she seems to let her emotions color what she thinks of everyone. She LOVED the deceased and HATED her friend, Mr. Baker (Dirk Bogarde). When the police talk to the deceased's sister, she sees Baker very differently...as she was in love with him. She also thought her sister was a shrill and vicious woman. And so the movie goes...with the police interviewing different folks and all having a very different view of the dead woman as well as their opinions about who was responsible for her fate.

Of all the folks in the film, Jean Kent really stands out as the victim. This is because she had to play such a different character depending on the viewpoint of the interviewee...ranging from almost sickly sweet and refined to coarse and god-awful! It takes talent to have such range! While I would never say the film is as good as the Kurosawa film, it IS very good and very well made...far better than most British pictures of the era.