User:Mordillo/Rashōmon
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“Oh for fuck sakes! It was the samurai, it was the wife it was Tajōmaru, it was the woodcutter it was the monk. Enough! IT WAS THE BUTLER!”
~ Akira Korosawa on Rashōmon
Rashōmon (羅生門) is a 1950 Japanese motion picture directed by Japanese film maker and master of confusion Akira Kurosawa
The movie's theme is the difficulty, or rather the impossibility, of obtaining the truth about an event from conflicting point of view (literature). Or rather, the movie's theme is how easy it is for one dirty little scoundrel to teach an upstanding snobbish Samurai a through and through lesson. Perhaps though, the movie isn't about that at all, and the Samurai is actually a symbolism for an illustrious admin trying to ban his way home.
It could be about something completely different.
Contents |
[edit] Origins of Name
Rashōmon was originally the name of the Southern Gate of medivel Kiyoto which, in Japanese, means, Gate of Eternal Migraine. Following the huge success of the film, the term Rashōmon became a popular expression in many language meaning - different versions of the truth.
It might be that this name means something utterly unrelated.
It also possible that the last statement was a lie.
[edit] Plot of the movie
The movie describes a rape and murder through the widely differing accounts of four witnesses, including the perpetrator and, through a medium (or rather, a really manly looking Japanese chick), the murder victim. The story unfolds in flashback as the four characters recount the events of one afternoon in a grove. But it is also a flashback within a flashback, within a flashback within a flashback where the woodcutter or priest or the judge or some innocent passerby has told what each individual said at the court. Each story is mutually contradictory, leaving the viewer unable to determine the truth of the events AND a splitting headache.
[edit] The Woodcutter
“I'm telling you there were like fifty women in the forest clearing, all butt naked, screaming and waving sharpened katanas! He didn't stand a chance!”
~ The Woodcutter on the Samurai's murder
The unnamed Woodcutter (木樵り cutawoodsa) claims he found the body of the victim (the Samurai) three days ago while looking for wood in the forest. He also claims that at the time of discovering the body the Samurai was a bit stiff and smelly, which he attributed to the Samurai's code of honor (the Bushido) as clearly stated in articles 23 and 45C:
- "And thou shalt be stiff towards yer men of low classes, thy peddlers, thy loan sharks, thy sushi-makers and thy unnamed woodcutters"
- "And thou shall not bathe nor use sweet fragrances nor creams. Thou shalt smell bad. Thou are the Samurai"
[edit] The Priest
“And as I watched them, the holy hand of Buddha swooped down from the sky and spanked the living daylights out of that miserable sinner”
~ The Priest on the Samurai's murder
The traveling Buddhist priest (旅法師 Hōli Monko) claims that he saw the Samurai and the Woman the same day the murder happened. Since his report does not tell anything about the murder, and does not contradict the other reports, he is presumably telling the truth. Indeed, Kurosawa's mastery of film making is at its best while providing this simple truth, that if one tells nothing about an event, and knows nothing at all, he must be a truth sayer.
[edit] The Bandit
“I was just standing there minding my own business and suddenly a piano fell from the sky and hit that poor Samurai”
~ The Bandit on The Samurai's Murder
Tajōmaru (多襄丸), a notorious brigand (盗人 stealomano), claims that he tricked the Samurai and his wife to step off the mountain trail with him and look at some swords he was selling. When he had them far off the trail, he separated them, and tied the Samurai to a tree. He planned to rape the woman, but found that on that specific day, FROM ALL POSSIBLE DAYS THE DAMNED WOMAN HAD A BAD HAIR DAY. The woman, filled with shame, then begged him to duel to the death with her husband, to save her from the guilt and shame of having a bad hair day publicly. He honorably set the Samurai free so they could duel. Just as they were about to dual a whole piano fell on the poor samurai's head, killing him instantly in a crescendo of C minor.
[edit] The Samurai's Wife
“My honorable husband just threw himself, coldly, at my dagger, all the while staring at me. Coldly.”
~ The Samurai's Wife on The Samurai's Murder
The Samurai's wife, Massagego (真砂), claims that after she was raped by Tajōmaru, who left her to weep, she begged her husband to forgive her; but he simply looked at her coldly. She then freed him and begged him to kill her so that she would be at peace. He continued to stare at her coldly, and then she fainted with dagger in hand. She awakens to find her husband staring coldly at the dagger's hilt sticking out of his chest.
[edit] The Samurai
“I'm not quite dead yet”
~ The Samurai on not being quite dead yet
Through a medium (巫女 Crazybichō), the deceased Samurai, Kan-no-Retreato (金沢の武弘), claims that after he was captured by Tajōmaru, and after the bandit raped his wife, Tajōmaru asked her to travel with him. She accepted and asked Tajōmaru to kill her husband so that she wouldn't feel the guilt of knowing two men. Tajōmaru, shocked by this request, releases the Samurai and asks him to join him on his travels instead. The Samurai, secretly enamored with the masculine brigand hastily agrees, and while skipping happily towards Tajōmaru trips and falls on his own blade. The ghost then mentions that somebody has done his hair after his death; upon hearing this (or more precisely, in the frame sequence after this part of the trial flashback is recounted), the woodcutter is startled, and claims that the dead man must be lying, because his hair was in a horrible state when his body was found.
[edit] The Woodcutter (again)
“Herrreeessss Johnny!”
~ The Woodcutter about the way the plot has thickened
The woodcutter then confesses that his earlier view was a lie and that he did in fact witness the event. He says that Tajōmaru raped the Samurai's wife, and then begged the weeping woman to marry him. She instead freed her husband and asked the two men to duel, saying that she would go with Victor. As both The Samurai and the brigand was now disgusted with her for having yet another lover, AND a Russian one, they refused to fight for her. The Husband told Tajōmaru that he was welcome to that used hag. Tajōmaru then suddenly "remembers" that he forgot to buy fabric softener and quickly began to walk away all the time whistling a cheerful Japanese tune. The woman then replied that the two men were cowards for not fighting. Her words questioning her ownership finally goaded the two men to battle, both trying to prove to the other that the other person, in fact, would do much better with taking the woman under his protection. Tajōmaru and the Samurai fought, but the struggle only showed how clumsy and frightened and a tad overweight they were, each man leaving much to be desired by way of both courage and combat skill. They also both suffered from a massive migraine due to the never ending twists in the plot. Nonetheless, Tajōmaru won the duel, and the woman fled as he mourned the death of the Samurai, his could be lover. Such a waste of fine buns.
The woodcutter, priest, and commoner are interrupted by the sound of a crying baby. They find the baby abandoned, and the commoner takes the baby's clothing and turns to kick the baby, as it is customary in some cultures. The woodcutter reproaches the commoner for kicking the abandoned baby, but the commoner retorts that he knows the truth: that the woodcutter, too, is an evil evil man, having kicked naked babes in the past. The serene conversation is being then disrupted by a group of the Japanese law men, also known as the Special Victimō Unit (特別な犠牲者ユニット) who promptly arrest the woodcutter for gross misconduct and violation of several municipal health regulations.
[edit] Redemption
These deceptions and lies shake the priest's faith in the goodness of humanity. The priest's faith is restored, however, after the guilty woodcutter, seeking redemption, offers to raise the baby as his own, Tajōmaru finds himself a male lover, the Samurai's ghost stops breathing at the medium's ear at 2am each and every night, the Samurai's wife finally fixes her eye brows, and they all lives happily every after bladi bladi bla.
[edit] Impact and influence
[edit] Recognition in the World
The film won a Golden Lion Award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival, and is widely credited to have introduced both Kurosawa and Japanese cinema to Western audiences. The film pioneered several cinematographic techniques, such as shooting directly into the sun and using mirrors to reflect sunlight onto the actor's faces. The film is also notable as an instance in which the camera "acts," or plays an active and important role in the story or its symbolism.
The film's concept has been influential on many other subsequent works, such as the films Courage Under Fire and Hoodwinked, and episodes of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Different World and CSI. The 1964 western movie The Outrage, which starred Paul Newman, Claire Bloom and Edward G. Robinson, was a remake of Rashōmon. The movie Hero has also been compared to Rashōmon.
Legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog has said that Rashōmon is the closest to "perfect" a film can get.
[edit] Recognition in Japan
When Daiei, a film production company in Japan, got the script of the film, the head of the company didn’t understand what the film was about. The company was reluctant to support the film so they gave the director a small budget to create the film. Even though they were reluctant to support the film, they opened a two-week premiere, twice as long as usual. However, how Japanese critics reacted to the film is crucial. Most critics said that the film was a failure "for visualizing the style of the original stories," "too complicated," "too monotonous," and contained "too much cursing."
Japanese critics didn’t understand why the film got a good reputation from Western countries. They came to the conclusion that the film was “exotic.” Therefore, the film was appealing to Western countries. But some critics found that the reason the film got the good reputation and numerous awards is not only because it was exotic to western eyes but also because it was "Western." In a collection of interpretations of Rashomon, Donald Richie writes what was "Western" in the film was that "the confines of ‘Japanese’ thought could not contain the director, who thereby joined the world at large." He also quotes Kurosawa criticizing how "Japanese think too little of our [Japanese] own things."
[edit] Kurosawa's Admiration for Silent Movies
Kurosawa’s admiration for silent movies and modern art can be seen in this film. There are only three settings in the film: Rashomon gate, the woods and the courtyard. The gate and the courtyard are simply constructed. The woods are real. One of the reasons why settings are simple is because of the low budget that Kurosawa got from Daiei. However, what made Kurosawa create simplicity in the film is his admiration for silent movies and modern art. Sound films make themselves more sophisticated by sounds because of "cinematic sound," according to Kurosawa in The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie. "Cinematic sound is never merely accompaniment, never merely what the sound machine caught while you took the scene. Real sound does not merely add to the images, it multiplies it." A director who creates a sound film has to focus on sounds and images as one work of art. Kurosawa, who rarely talks about his own style, has told his own way to restore the beauty of silent films that is lost in sound films. "I like silent pictures and I always have…I wanted to restore some of this beauty. I thought of it, I remember in this way: one of techniques of modern art is simplification, and that I must therefore simplify this film." When Kurosawa was younger, he studied and painted western paintings. His knowledge of modern art helped him balance the complication of sound films by making images simpler.
[edit] Actors and Kurosawa
When Kurosawa shot Rashomon, the actors and the staff lived together. He remembers how it was to spend a lot of time with the actors and the staff. Donald Richie quotes Kurosawa in The Films of Akira Kurosawa, “We were a very small group and it was as though I was directing Rashomon every minute of the day and night. At times like this, you can talk everything over and get very close indeed.” Spending time with the actors and the staff let Kurosawa direct as he wanted to (and create the film with them). Rashomon is one of many examples of Kurosawa’s success on acting direction. When actors and Kurosawa were waiting for the set to be built, they watched a film on Africa. While they were watching a lion roaming around, Kurosawa suggested Mifune who played the bandit to be like the lion. As a result, Mifune’s acting was wild, insane and inhumane in the film.
[edit] Cinematographic Techniques
The cinematographer, Kazuo Miyagawa contributed an enormous amount of ideas and support to create a film as Kurosawa’s masterpiece. Without cinematographic techniques, the film cannot be recognized as a great film. For example, they use single close-ups to emphasize the triangle of the bandit, wife and husband. The process of a shot of the wife then a shot of the bandit then a shot of the husband continues. Cinema critics call it “‘silent-film technique.’”Silent films use close-ups to express emotion from an actor’s facial expression. It is understandable to see this technique because Kurosawa admires silent films. Use of contrasting shots is another example of techniques in Rashomon. According to Richie, the time of a shot of the wife and the time of a shot of the bandit are the same. The shots go back and forth. It is hard to tell why that is but both of them are equally insane. The bandit is barbarically crazy and the wife is hysterically crazy.
There are some other techniques used in the film. The film was the first to shoot directly into the sun. Kurosawa and his lighting artist, Kenichi Okamoto used a mirror to reflect the natural light because the reflected light was still weak with the bead board. The technique gives an interesting quality to the film. It looks like the strong sunlight travels through the branches, hitting the actors. The rain was tinted by black ink because camera lenses couldn’t capture rain made with regular water.
[edit] Symbolism in the Use of Light in Rashomon
Symbolism of light and dark is used in Rashomon. Tadao Sato writes in his essay “Rashomon” that the sunlight symbolizes evil and sin in the film. He mentions how the wife gives herself to the bandit when she sees the sun. However, Keiko I. McDonald opposes Sato’s idea in “The Dialectic of Light and Darkness in Kurosawa’s Rashomon.” She says light symbolizes “good” or “reason” and darkness symbolizes “bad” or “impulse.” She observes the scene aforementioned by Sato differently. She says that the wife gives herself to the bandit when the sun slowly fades out. She also reveals that Kurosawa was waiting for a big cloud to be over Rashomon gate to shoot the final scene when the woodcutter takes the abandoned baby home. He wanted to show that there might be another dark rain any time soon even though the sky is clear at this moment. Unfortunately, the final scene seems a little optimistic because it was too sunny and clear to produce the effects of an overcast sky.
[edit] References to Rashōmon in other works of fiction
The last episode of season 3, of the Ken Finkleman TV series The Newsroom, entitled Learning to Fly, is done in an anime style and alludes to the film, including 3 men retelling events in the rain at a ruined gate [1].
The 1964 movie The Outrage, starring Paul Newman, directed by Martin Ritt, transfers the Japanese setting of Rashōmon to that of the Wild West.
The 2006 animated movie Hoodwinked is a similar allusion, retelling the "Little Red Riding Hood" fable using the plot format of Rashōmon.
The episode of the sitcom All in the Family, "Everybody Tells the Truth," featured the same premise.
In the episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" of the TV series The Simpsons, the following exchange takes place, in humorous reference to Rashōmon's themes of ambiguity and conflicting accounts:
- Marge: 'You liked Rashōmon.'
- Homer: 'That's not how I remember it.'
A 2006 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was titled "Rashomama," in reference to the movie.
In the 1999 Jim Jarmusch film Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai the story is thrown into action when the daughter of an Italian Mafia Godfather drops a copy of the original book Rashomon to the floor, revealing herself to Ghost Dog, who had just performed a professional hit on her lover in the same room. Ghost Dog takes the book at the girl's insistence, reading it throughout the film. He returns the borrowed copy to the girl at the end of the film, seconds before he dies from bullet wounds. It is an interesting text to be included, because the girl's role as innocent bystander is called into question at the end of the film, as she may have purposely orchestrated a great deal of the events of the film (much like the samurai's wife in Kurosawa's film).
[edit] References to Rashōmon in philosophy
The film also plays a central role in Martin Heidegger's dialogue between a Japanese and inquirer. Where the inquirer praises the film early on for being a way into the 'mysterious' Japanese world, but the Japanese condemns the film for ultimately being too European and dependent on certain objectifying realism not present in traditional Japanese noh plays.
