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Emilio Solomon
Senior Seminar: Period 1
Mr. Clover
March 11, 2012
Rashomon Essay
In the movie Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa, a priest, a woodcutter, and another
man settle in a gatehouse called Rashomon in order to avoid a rainy storm. The priest, the
woodcutter, and the man were all recounting the story of the murdered samurai, whose body was
found three days earlier in the forest grove. Along with the priest, the woodcutter, and the man,
three other people were testified at the trial with regards to what had happened at the forest grove.
The three people, including the bandit, the samurai, and the samurai’s wife told similar stories of
what happened. The movie, Rashomon reflects the views of Ebert and Morris on truth and reality.
Although Ebert believes that truth and reality are both subjective and are based on human
interpretation, Morris believes that truth and reality are independent of each other.
According to the Ebert’s views, truth and reality are both subjective and are based on human
experience as shown from the flashbacks in Rashomon. The flashbacks in Rashomon are both true
and false. The flashbacks are true because the witnesses present an accurate account of what
happened. However, the flashbacks are false, because those involved in the story, are not unable to
be honest of what actually happened. For example, in Rashomon, those involved, including the
samurai, the samurai’s wife, and the bandit all had their personal accounts of what happened. The
samurai’s wife claims that her husband looked at her coldly, after the bandit killed her husband.
On other hand, the bandit claims that the samurai’s wife asked for both the samurai and him to
duel because the samurai’s wife would rather go with the stronger man, where in the end, the

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samurai is murdered. Nonetheless, the three witnesses in the refuge are accurate since they all
three claim that the samurai was murdered.
According to Morris’ views, truth and reality are independent of each other because every
according to Morris, we are continually investigating truth using evidence. Our views on truth and
reality is influenced by how much evidence we have. For example, in Rashomon, the three
characters involved in the murder of the samurai, all had their own evidence to support their story.
Even though the samurai, the samurai’s wife, and the bandit were able to tell the story and support
it with evidence, all three characters were not there at the same time when the story began. With
regards to the three witnesses, all three witnesses had their own evidence to support what
happened as well. For example, the woodcutter claimed that the bandit raped the samurai’s wife,
and begged for her to marry him. On the other hand, the samurai’s wife said that it was not for her
to decide. Nonetheless, in Rashomon, there’s only one person who killed the samurai, either the
bandit, or the samurai himself.
Furthermore, according to Morris’ views, truth and reality are independent of each other
because every human creates their own reality through perception. However, when our perception
is affected, our reality is also affected. For example, in Rashomon, the bandit and samurai’s
account of what happened is affected by their perception. With regards to the bandit’s story, the
bandit told the witnesses that he forgot about the dagger, owned by the samurai’s wife. On the
other hand, the samurai said that somebody removed the dagger from his chest. However, the
woodcutter claims that the samurai is lying since he claims that a sword killed the samurai. Both
the samurai and the bandit aren’t able to recount what happened accurately because their realities
do not cohere with the truth. Nonetheless in Rashomon, there’s only one person who killed the
samurai, either the bandit, or the samurai himself.
In general, both Ebert’s view and Morris’ view of truth and reality both reflect the ideas that
seeing is believing and the theory of common-sense realism. Ebert’s view of truth and reality

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would likely be related to idea that “seeing is believing.” Both Ebert’s view of truth and reality
and “seeing is believing” emphasize that truth and reality are subjective and based on human
interpretation. Morris’ view of truth and reality would likely be related to the theory of common-
sense realism. Both Morris’ view of truth and reality and common-sense realism emphasize that
truth and reality are independent of each other. Other examples such as the allegory of the cave
may show that “truth requires a search, quest, and investigation” as Morris, said in his interview.
By applying the views of Morris and Ebert to Rashomon, one cannot say that truth and reality is
merely subjective or that truth and reality is merely independent since the movie does not end with
a conclusion.
Works Cited
Poppy, Nick. “Interview with Errol Morris.” The Believer. N.p. n.d. Web. 11 March 2012.
“Rashomon (1950).” Man from film critic Roger Ebert. 26 May 2002. Web. 11 March 2012.