Kurosawa's brother demanded that he look upon the destruction, the scene of death. "Looking back on that excursion now, I realize that it must have been horrifying for my brother, too. It had been an expedition to conquer fear" (IMDb 1). Throughout Kurosawa's body of work, the topics of fear, death, violence, and exploitation have a major presence, often being the center foci. From this perspective, Kurosawa directed his films as expeditions to conquer fear, and Rashomon is no exception.
While the men under the gate entertain the testimonies, it is evident that their differing experiences and worldviews color how they interpret the trustworthiness of each account. Susan Sontag, an American author and literary and social critic, examined this idea of worldviews coloring one's interpretation of events depicted in photographs in her article "Looking at War". In the piece, Sontag quotes Virginia Woolf asking, "whether when we look at the same photographs we feel the same things," with the answer given by Rashomon being a resounding "no" (3). When two people view a picture, their own biases and opinions color their viewing of the picture, and subsequently their interpretation of what it depicts. As Sontag states, "To an Israeli Jew, a photograph of a child torn apart in the attack on the Sbarro pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem is first of all a photograph of a Jewish child killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. To a Palestinian, a photograph of a child torn apart by a tank round in Gaza is first of all a photograph of a Palestinian child killed by Israeli ordnance." (Sontag 4). Perception of events goes through a similar filter, and is even more susceptible to mutation. This filtration affects the way people retell an event, and potentially distorts their very perception of the event. In the case of Rashomon, no photographic evidence was presented; it was simply four people with four different accounts, four people with conflicting interests, retelling something that happened.
The film Rashomon is amazingly simple yet deceptively complex. ... The film Rashomon opens with three men sitting under Rashomon gate. ... Each of the four stories is separated by a returning shot to the four men at Rashomon gate. ... Rashomon is a beautifully directed movie which uses framing to separate the different scenes. ... The framing of the stories helped to make Rashomon the wonderful film that it is....
In Rashomon we are told a story from varying different points of views. ... Rashomon is based on short stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Rashomon and In the Grove. ... I found this movie to be very interesting in the way Akira Kurosawa told the story of Rashomon. ...
The story told by Rashomon is both surprisingly simple and deceptively complex. ... Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" is a good example of a story that is not what it first appears to be. ... Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon tells the story of a murder. ... Rashomon plays with what we can perceive as truth. ...
I was not really able to grasp the essence of "In a Grove- and "Rashomon- the first time I read it. ... In my opinion, "Rashomon- was a vague story. ... Kurosawa's Rashomon was based on the combination of Akutagawa's two stories. ... Many people watch Rashomon to try to piece the stories together and find a conclusion. ... Rashomon was used as the place where the woodcutter, the priest, and the commoner met. ...
Rashomon Akutagawa's Rashomon is a fascinating tale about the nature of human behavior in extreme circumstances. ... In Rashomon, there was a great deal of social trouble taking place and the samurai for who the servant had worked for many years had let him go. ... This suspicion is clearly depicted in the following quote: "[The servant begins to climb into the Rashomon to sleep for the night when he sees a light] What sort of person would be making a light in the Rahomon and in a storm? ...
"Rashomon," (1950) is a film directed by Akira Kurosawa. ... The film recounts the account of the bandit whom holds the namesake of the film, the dangerously renowned Rashomon. ... I think, providing that the woodcutters account is factual, Rashomon acts in this way because he is concerned about the way he will be represented after the trial. ... The way in which Rashomon boast himself is a defensive tool in protecting the integrity of his name as a bandit. ... Rashomon has stated himself on multiple accounts that people are motivated purely by self-interest. ...
I chose the song "Demons,"" by Imagine Dragons. ... People try to destroy us and we try to shield our demons from the ones we love, but we want their help. ... It's where my demons hide; it's where my demons hide. ... It's where my demons hide; it's where my demons hide. ... One has gained the emotional trust needed to expose demons, or conflicted inner-self. ...
Evil-Demon's in my head? ... He challenges that idea of knowledge because with his evil-demon theory, there is no such thing as "self-thought". ... Meaning he isn't quite sure whether we have bodies and the demon only taps into our brains or if us as a whole is just an imaginary idea. ... The evil-demon in this case is a giant machine that grows the babies in pods filled with "life energy" from other humans. ... For instance, Descartes proposed the existence of an evil-demon, not some large machine or computer that controlled us. ...
