1. Mina Yamanaka
Senior Seminar
Period 4
Rashomon
Rashomon is a movie filmed in 1950’s, directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story
begins with a woodcutter, a priest and a peasant seeking refuge from a downpour at a
ruined gate, Rashomon. The priest and the woodcutter talk about the trial of a notorious
bandit, Tajomaru for rape and murder. At the trial, the bandit, the wife and the samurai
husband testifies the situation and they all claim incompatible stories. After the retelling
of three testimonies, the woodcutter who confessed to have seen the entire event starts to
give an account of what happened.The movie ends with no clear explanation of the
murder the samurai and leaves the interpretation to the audience. Errol Morris insists that
there exists only one absolute truth while Roger Ebert insists that the truth is a subjective
thing. While it is admitted that some aspects of Morris’ position are related to the specific
truth of the crime in Rashomon, the use of multiple conflicting accounts of the same
crime demonstrates that Ebert’s theory,the truth is more subjective, best fits the film.
It is true that the idea that the samurai is dead and someone killed the samurai is
a never changing fixed statement regardless of the motives or other factors. Morris’s
theory can be applied when considering this because those two statements do not need to
be justified or proved to be true and Morris’s theory only pursues for the universal truth
that does not need any explanation and motives do not matter in this theory.Morris insists
that we may not have all the evidences in hand in order to acknowledge the reality or truth,
but underneath it there always be a physical reality. The truth should not be up to the
people who are dealing with it but the truth exists only one.
However, there are some aspects that cannot be covered with only Morris’s
theory which is expressed as K=T in an equation. Since we see the events in flashbacks,
we assume they reflect truth. But all they reflect is a point of view, sometimes lied about.
While the shadow play of truth and memory is going on, we are absorbed by what we
trust is an unfolding story