Rashomon Journal

David Longenhagen III
10/11/2011
Rashomon
Japanese with English subtitles
Run Time 88 minuets
1959
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Won the Blue Ribbon Award(1951), Golden Lion(1951), and the Italian Film Critics Award(1951).


The topic used in this film from class lectures is located in chapter three, dealing with ideograms. Now ideograms are symbols that have a meaning. As I have talked about before an example could be a picture of a eye, and a picture of water. separate they mean to see, and water. But together they might mean to cry. Now needless to say, there was very much use of symbols in Rashomon. For one there is the main gate half destroyed, the rain, the child found at the end, and even the characters. The character represent almost every aspect of Japanese culture. There is the Samurai, a woman, a thief, a farmer, a merchant, and a priest character. There is also the mentality of each character, and the idea of is their hope for the human spirit. All these symbols that are very different mash together to tell a confusing but very relevant story. The idea of human beings lying, and being trusted is a theme used in many movies. An example I can tell right of the back is John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), and its prequel which is equally as good in different ways The Thing (2011).

Keiko McDonald takes his article to new bounds by tackling the topic of symbols in the Rashomon film. He starts by saying nobody looks at them, and states that the meaning of the film is to examine human nature. This idea brings up his main theme of the films light and dark side of human beings. He also joined the themes and symbols, to demonstrate the way of the world at the time fragmented. Keiko then goes into a several page summary of the film, picking little pieces out to discuss his claims such as the wood cutter going into the forest. He says that the man is covered in sunlight until he enters the forest. In the forest he is only his with spots of light, he says this symbolizes the spotty aspect of mortality. The ending is also talked about for its hopeful meaning to the future.(McDonald) Roger Ebert starts his review by saying that before the film was made three assistant directors approached the main director and couldn't understand the story. The idea was that the story has no solution. Even though some did not understand the film it was a great success in Japan, and even the rest of the world. Because of its unique use of flash backs to tell stories other films have copied its routine. Ebert then gives a brief summary of the film, concluding that its strongest points are the use of emotion and visuals. He says that one of the most famous scenes in the whole movie is when the wood cutter character walks through the forest. He concludes his review by saying that the film is about self discovery and redemption.(Ebert)

These two articles go very well with my ideas of the film when i watched it in class. I thought that the story was a little confusing at first but it had a strong uses of symbols that tell a separate story from the main film. Both authors agree that the film has a massive theme of trust, and human nature, that ends with a redemption. The best scene I thought was the ending. In the ending I saw the commoner man and the woodcutter argue about being a thief. The woodcutter now appears to be guilty of stealing the woman's knife. Now the only pure character is the priest. But the woodcutter man then asked to take the child they find and raise it, since he already has 6 at home. This shows that man can change his ways for better, and captures the light and dark side that Keiko describes. This is also the redemption that both authors talk about, and there is a hope that human beings can be good, and not always evil.
After watching this film, and reading the articles, I have come up with the idea that movies are not just about story but also the little things that are shown in them. What I mean is Rashomon's movie is about people who lie about a rape, and murder. But when you look at the meaning, and symbols one finds that the movie is actually a theatrical form of a human mentality lecture. Human beings undoubtedly have a light and dark sides, but as Ebert says the film is also about self discovery. This could be seen when the woodcutter cracks and tells his story of what he saw, and he comes to the conclusion after a conflict that he is no better than the three, he is a thief. I like this idea because self discovery, like talking about the dark side of human nature is a topic many do not want to talk about in real life. This film grabs this topic, and lays it down for all to see. And it does it perfectly, but the ending gives hope to the idea that there is time to change for the better. And from what I saw and read I'm not the only one who feels this way because it is still considered a classic movie and well loved around the globe.

McDonald, Keiko I. Light and Darkness in Rashomon. Literature Film Quarterly; 1982, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p120, 10p.
Roger Ebert Rashomon (1950). rogerebert.com. May 26, 2002 2011