Rashomon (1950)

 Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon"

I have seen "Rashomon" a couple of times in my life. I can never get back the utter astonishment I felt by that first experience. This third time viewing the film will also never live up to the first experience. When you already know the structure, format, and plot of the film, it becomes harder to let the story unravel around you, leaving you merely examining the film as a whole experience rather than being pulled through the winding and shifting narrative. However, in my third viewing, I was able to pick up on larger contexts the film provides. 

"Rashomon" and its story structure forever changed narrative stories. You may have seen a film or television series in which different characters recount the same events through their own unique lens. Each story abides by the same similar beats, but each individual's story is slightly different - offering a critique on human fallibility in regards to memory, truthfulness, and perception. "Rashomon" tells the story of three different characters offering their account of a murder. However, the harrowing and perplexing thing about their three varying accounts is that each one admits to the murder itself, leaving the arbiters of justice (as well as the audience) unable to find an objective truth to the events that unfolded. 

Because each of the stories are all equally likely to be true, as well as all equally likely to be false, it leaves a chasm of truth unable to be filled. On top of this, because each individual seems to be adamant in admitting that they are the ones who committed the murderous act, it muddies the waters even further, pointing to the notion that we as audiences are unable to come to some definite conclusions about the nature of objective truth and reality. Basically, all of this points to the notion that everything in the film, the actions of the characters, the intentions behind their actions, the stories they tell, etc., are all senseless. Absent is reason, absent is truth, and absent is objectivity. 

My third watch of the film allowed me to notice this harrowing theme in association with the utter despair felt by a post-war Japan (as well as Kurosawa). The story takes place at a  partially destroyed city gate. The ruins and wreckage of this city gate, as well as the downpour of rain, seems to mark a visual cue from Kurosawa. This image is that of a Japan full of despair. As one of the characters note, the city of Rashomon faces bandits every night, on top of an array of other horrors - war, famine, etc. Despite the film taking place in Heian-era Japan, the utter despair and traumatization of the people mirrors that of modern 1950 Japan. The notion that reason, truth, and objectivity has been completely abandoned add to this despair and hopelessness. 

However, like his previous films, Kurosawa offers a sliver of hope to this despair (perhaps) through the unnamed woodcutter character. This character, claims to have witnessed the entire event unfold. Because this character has no reason to lie or be biased in this situation, his account is perhaps the most objective account in the film. Through his account, I was able to establish a better understanding as to the 'why' in needing to lie about the chain of events that unfolded. After the initial event that caused this fallout, the rape of the wife, each character chose to interpret this initial event through a very different lens (just as they recounted the whole event through varyingly different lenses afterwards). As we said earlier, there is an utter senselessness to reality. Because of this senselessness, we as humans must project our own sense. When the wife of the samurai was raped, each character chose to view this event through their own perspective. The rapist bandit was content on simply leaving the situation, allowing the couple to leave freely and live their lives. However, that is not what happened. The characters chose to view this horrific event as an end in itself. Their subsequent actions enacted the final acts of self-destruction. Rather than moving past it and establishing a path forward from this atrocity, they chose to let the event be their utter downfall. Here's where this reconnects back to contemporary Japan. At the end of the film, the unnamed woodcutter, bewildered by the utter senselessness of everything he's witnessed, he chooses to take an abandoned baby back home to raise as his own. As he leaves with the baby, the rain stops and the sun reveals itself once again. With "Rashomon," Kurosawa implores the people of Japan to not allow the horrors and senselessness they've witnessed the past decade utterly destroy them and their humanity. 

"Rashomon" and its themes of post-war despair and post-truth caught the attention of audiences across the globe. It was the first Japanese film to be renowned internationally. It won the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival and was given an honorary award at the 1952 Academy Awards. On top of this, it has become one of the most influential film in our media landscape as well as our culture. The term "Rashomon effect" is used to desbribe situations that involve contradictory accounts and is often used as a plot device in many films and television shows. However, "Rashomon" was just the beginning for Akira Kurosawa, who would go on to produce immaculate films for decades to come.