This blog contains weekly journal entries for glover's film history class at Champlain College in Burlington VT.
The plain template is in effect because it does not crop the youtube imbeds.
Students are expected to post a minimum of 1 response a week, plus 1 comment on a peer post.
Feel free to add relevant imbeds or links, or to use the blog for related off-topic threads, or to post your presentations for use in class, or viewing after.
In this film, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon we are told an ever changing, ever twisting and turning story of an assault and murder. All throughout the course of this film we see the "same story" from every single perspective imaginable. And in that respect, this film is so prolific that it even has something named after it, the "Rashomon Effect."
The "Rashomon Effect" is defined as the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. That definition basically describes the film in a nutshell.
I particularly enjoyed the film because of some of it's absolutely stunning cinematography, direction, and acting by one of my favorites, Toshiro Mifune. In particular, there was one shot that I still look back on and am still very impressed by it. Where at one point in the film, the camera starts behind the woman, and tracks around her and pulls back to show the scene around her. Then, later, the shot is reversed and it is almost a complete match.
That one shot really made the film stand out to me as as a whole, and that one shot as being one of the more important things about this film, in my opinion that is.
What Jeff said in his post about the "Rashomon Effect" is still prevalent today. In fact, the other day I was watching Forensic Files and a similar situation as the film happened. A man was stabbed to death in front of three witnesses and all of the stories differed drastically from one another. I found this rather ironic because I saw the episode the other day so it was fresh in my memory for this post.
In regards to this film, I found it one of the most captivating ones we’ve watched thus far. I found the execution of this movie very entrancing. The atmosphere was done on point because the transition between the pouring rain, the emperor’s temple and the sweltering jungle were minimal yet was all that was needed to complete the film. The characters helped make the films because they all seemed to work in the role they played in the film.
I felt that the movie had a religious overtone not just because Rashomon was a dilapidated temple. There were frequent shots to the sky and the fact that the story kept being manipulated to the extent that no one knew the truth made me think that they shot the sky to show that god will be the proper judge of the situation. In my studies I have found that the Japanese have values of dying with honor and integrity. This is why I felt the story worked so well because not one of the people involved wanted to disgrace their name. However, the director showed all these attempts are merely futile because god is the one who will judge you and he will know what the truth is.
"Rashomon" was a very interesting film. It brought on a whole new perspective to story telling within filmmaking. Te film is actually a story by the films writer, Akira Akutagawa, called "In a Grove". Its a relatively simple story that become complicated because of the characters viewpoints. Throughout the film I tried to piece together what was going on, as if every telling of the crime on trial would lead to a better understanding of the situation. However, things are not as they seem, I figured out that we would never hear the "truth" of what happened that day. I really like how the film took the audience through different emotions. Every story creates a whole new mood for the viewer to experience. For example, the bandit is seen as a ruthless barbarian during the first account, then in his own recollection it almost seems disgustingly heroic. By the end of the film you've hear so many different views of characters and actions that its hard to want to hear anything more. As everything seems plausible, the audience finds nothing believable. For such a serious crime, its hard to tell who is the most at fault. This dynamic made the film flow, it constantly is curbing your appetite for knowledge about the event without actually telling you anything factual about it. Although some stories are more understandable than others, none of them seem to answer to the crime. I think that the Auteur Theory is very prevalent in Kurosawa's work. especially because it was both written and directed by him. I imagine this helped him keep the film within his vision.
Although Rashomon had some weird parts that made me feel uncomfortable (i.e. the part when the dead samurai tells his account from the afterlife!), I really liked the idea and format of it and it made me want make a movie of the same style. This meme that the movie transmitted was called the "Rashomon Effect". This effect describe how people have skewed and biased perceptions of what happens in a serious event or mystery. It is especially used in television shows and movies when involved in an event where it is questionable who is at fault (i.e. CSI).
This was a great technique and it came out around the time when the Auteur Theory was gaining popularity, which meant that films were very personal to filmmakers and they weren't made to make money but rather as a work of art, usually with some meaning attached to it. It differed from traditional western films of the time and was certainly not predictable. Furthermore, it's ending still leaves you with something to think about and discuss andit also allows you to make a reasonable argument to who you believe was telling the truth and why. It is a film that I was able to discern great symbolism from and I won't forget about it when I'm making my films.
Now one of my favorite social commentaries, Rashomon is all around a clever film. From the subtle differences of the characters recollection of the story to the amazing cinematography that depicted it.
I loved the last shot of the film--showing the parting of ways between the two men in front of the temple after the storm. I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way.
I believe Kurosawa created alot of filmmaking memes Rashomon. Many of which you can see in modern television(CSI) and movies (Reservoir Dogs). It's obvious that he is a master of film aesthetics and I look forward to seeing many more of his films.
5 comments:
In this film, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon we are told an ever changing, ever twisting and turning story of an assault and murder. All throughout the course of this film we see the "same story" from every single perspective imaginable. And in that respect, this film is so prolific that it even has something named after it, the "Rashomon Effect."
The "Rashomon Effect" is defined as the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. That definition basically describes the film in a nutshell.
I particularly enjoyed the film because of some of it's absolutely stunning cinematography, direction, and acting by one of my favorites, Toshiro Mifune. In particular, there was one shot that I still look back on and am still very impressed by it. Where at one point in the film, the camera starts behind the woman, and tracks around her and pulls back to show the scene around her. Then, later, the shot is reversed and it is almost a complete match.
That one shot really made the film stand out to me as as a whole, and that one shot as being one of the more important things about this film, in my opinion that is.
What Jeff said in his post about the "Rashomon Effect" is still prevalent today. In fact, the other day I was watching Forensic Files and a similar situation as the film happened. A man was stabbed to death in front of three witnesses and all of the stories differed drastically from one another. I found this rather ironic because I saw the episode the other day so it was fresh in my memory for this post.
In regards to this film, I found it one of the most captivating ones we’ve watched thus far. I found the execution of this movie very entrancing. The atmosphere was done on point because the transition between the pouring rain, the emperor’s temple and the sweltering jungle were minimal yet was all that was needed to complete the film. The characters helped make the films because they all seemed to work in the role they played in the film.
I felt that the movie had a religious overtone not just because Rashomon was a dilapidated temple. There were frequent shots to the sky and the fact that the story kept being manipulated to the extent that no one knew the truth made me think that they shot the sky to show that god will be the proper judge of the situation. In my studies I have found that the Japanese have values of dying with honor and integrity. This is why I felt the story worked so well because not one of the people involved wanted to disgrace their name. However, the director showed all these attempts are merely futile because god is the one who will judge you and he will know what the truth is.
"Rashomon" was a very interesting film. It brought on a whole new perspective to story telling within filmmaking. Te film is actually a story by the films writer, Akira Akutagawa, called "In a Grove". Its a relatively simple story that become complicated because of the characters viewpoints. Throughout the film I tried to piece together what was going on, as if every telling of the crime on trial would lead to a better understanding of the situation. However, things are not as they seem, I figured out that we would never hear the "truth" of what happened that day. I really like how the film took the audience through different emotions. Every story creates a whole new mood for the viewer to experience. For example, the bandit is seen as a ruthless barbarian during the first account, then in his own recollection it almost seems disgustingly heroic. By the end of the film you've hear so many different views of characters and actions that its hard to want to hear anything more. As everything seems plausible, the audience finds nothing believable. For such a serious crime, its hard to tell who is the most at fault. This dynamic made the film flow, it constantly is curbing your appetite for knowledge about the event without actually telling you anything factual about it. Although some stories are more understandable than others, none of them seem to answer to the crime. I think that the Auteur Theory is very prevalent in Kurosawa's work. especially because it was both written and directed by him. I imagine this helped him keep the film within his vision.
Although Rashomon had some weird parts that made me feel uncomfortable (i.e. the part when the dead samurai tells his account from the afterlife!), I really liked the idea and format of it and it made me want make a movie of the same style. This meme that the movie transmitted was called the "Rashomon Effect". This effect describe how people have skewed and biased perceptions of what happens in a serious event or mystery. It is especially used in television shows and movies when involved in an event where it is questionable who is at fault (i.e. CSI).
This was a great technique and it came out around the time when the Auteur Theory was gaining popularity, which meant that films were very personal to filmmakers and they weren't made to make money but rather as a work of art, usually with some meaning attached to it. It differed from traditional western films of the time and was certainly not predictable. Furthermore, it's ending still leaves you with something to think about and discuss andit also allows you to make a reasonable argument to who you believe was telling the truth and why. It is a film that I was able to discern great symbolism from and I won't forget about it when I'm making my films.
Now one of my favorite social commentaries, Rashomon is all around a clever film. From the subtle differences of the characters recollection of the story to the amazing cinematography that depicted it.
I loved the last shot of the film--showing the parting of ways between the two men in front of the temple after the storm. I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way.
I believe Kurosawa created alot of filmmaking memes Rashomon. Many of which you can see in modern television(CSI) and movies (Reservoir Dogs). It's obvious that he is a master of film aesthetics and I look forward to seeing many more of his films.
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