1. RahatMadarasmi
Period 5
Senior Seminar
Clover
The Absolute Truth
Rashomon
Is truth subjective, or is there only one truth? The film Rashomon by Akira
Kurosawa prompts the mind to question the possibility of multiple truths as
oppose to one single truth. The film is set in 12th century Japan where there has
been a murder and a possible rape. Four witnesses are called upon to confess in
a courtroom and they each present a different story of what they believe to be
the truth. Thus, because of this, we question whether truth is subjective or
absolute. Roger Ebert and Errol Morris are two men that have two different
views upon the matter of truth. Roger Ebert believes in the possibility of multiple
truths as he feels that truth is based on how the witness perceives it to be.
Because different people perceive different things differently, there will be
multiple truths, thus showing that he supports a subjective truth. Morris, on the
other hand, believes in an absolute truth where there can only be one story that
actually happened. Though in the film Rashomon, Ebert’s subjective view is
evident in the multiple theories presented, Morris’s theory of one absolute truth
is the best way to solve the crime presented in Rashomon as there can only be
one true scenario.
Roger Ebert believes that truth is subjective and that it can vary. This
supports the views of relativism and this idea of relativism allows truth to vary
2. according to one’s perception. Because people of different cultures may perceive
things differently, there are multiple versions of the truth. In the film Rashomon,
for example, there are four different confessions made about the murder. Each
person believes something different and believes that this is true, thus there is
no absolute truth and a conclusion was never formed. According to Ebert’s
analysis of truth, all of these stories can potentially be considered the truth as
each person may have perceived the situation differently. Ebert’s theory allows
some ‘wiggle room’ when it comes to determining the truth as there can be
multiple versions of the truth. The real question is: Is this theory really effective
towards the situation in the film Rashomon? Though the story in Rashomon never
really comes to a conclusion, those watching the movie would want to know the
resolution and thus expect an absolute truth.
In contrast to the views of Roger Ebert, Errol Morris believes that truth is
absolute and objective. He, like Plato, believes that only one truth can exist and
that there can be no alternate true story.It is evident that Morris believes this
when he challenges the validity of something that is said officially, “Well, it goes
to this whole issue: does style guarantee truth? Does printing something in the
New York Times guarantee its truth? Because it appears in a certain paper in a
certain font, a certain look, can we just say that because of that fact, it’s
true?”(Interview with Errol Morris). He questions whether the truth is
guaranteed when it is said by official sources. Clearly he believes that there can
only be one absolute truth. The theory that Morris and Plato believe in is that for
something to be true, it has to proven and it has to be believed by everyone.
Though Roger Ebert’s theory relates directly to the plot of Rashomon with the
3. four alternate stories, Errol Morris’s theory of an absolute truth would be the
only way to solve the crime that occurred in the movie, as there could only have
been one scenario and one outcome.
In the film Rashomon, a murder and a rape have occurred and there are
four alleged witnesses. The dilemma is that all four witnesses each have different
stories of what they witnessed happening. It is clear that this relates entirely to
Roger Ebert’s theory that there can be multiple truths depending on one’s
perception. Though this may be true, generally when attempting to solve a crime,
the goal is to “get to the bottom of it” or, in other words, figure out the one real
truth. Thus Errol Morris’s theory of an absolute truth is the only way that the
situation in Rashomon can be resolved and concluded. In a mystery such as this,
there can only really be one occurrence and because of this, Errol Morris’s theory
of finding one absolute truth would be the only way to conclude the story in
Rashomon.
To conclude, based on the ideas of truth and perception in the film
Rashomon, Roger Ebert’s idea of a subjective truth is indeed directly related with
the film, but it is Errol Morris’s idea of an absolute truth that will really bring the
dilemma to an end. The only way to convict the right person of their crime is to
find out what exactly it was that they did, and in this case, the victim of a murder
cannot possibly be murdered by 4 different people in four different ways. Thus,
there must be one absolute truth as to who murdered the samurai. Akira
Kurosawa does a good job in portraying the possibility of multiple truths in a
certain situation but the beauty of his movie really lies in the end, for he leaves
the viewer wondering as to what really happened. He allows the possibility of a
4. subjective truth and though this is a fascinating new way of looking at a
situation, there is really only one way to solve this puzzle. Find the absolute
truth.
