This is a classic of cinema that I never got around to until this winter.
Set in Japan in the 8th century, a small group of men sit under the Rashomon city gate during a rainstorm. They have just finished testifying in court about a samurai found murdered in the woods nearby.
Through a series of flashbacks, the story of how the murder happened and the events surrounding it are told by different people who saw what happened.
I think, for a 1950s movie, it holds up very well. The writing, acting, and cinematography are all top notch, especially considering the movie was made for $250,000. I'd say more, but i don't want to give too much away.
Meaning the same story told from different perspectives, the telling of which changes the story, as first typified by the film ‘Rashomon’. Some examples of this are the new film ‘The Last Duel’, the How I Met Your Mother Episode ‘The Ashtray’ and more loosely ‘The Burning Beekeeper’, again loosely the episode ‘The Gang Saves The Day’ from Always Sunny. I could go on but I think you catch my drift (and also I’m sorely lacking media I like which implements this trope beyond the original. So please could I get some horror suggestions? It’s for a thing. Failing that could I get some non horror film suggestions
I got a Blu-ray copy recently (I only knew of its reputation and the trope it popularized) and decided to watch it with my father, who was also watching it for the first time.
What can I say... It was a thoroughly entertaining film, beautiful to look at thanks to very precise cinematography and the music perfectly complimented what was happening on the screen.
The energy of the characters (thanks to their perfectly cast actors) and the famous differing points of view made me forget at times that it has basically just three sets (the temple, the grove, and wherever the case was investigated).
About the differing POVs: it was fun to try to piece the story together from what the characters decided to say, only to find out that we would never know what actually happened.
I can say that I completely understood where its reputation stems from, and it's completely deserved.
My father also found it thought-provoking.
Looking for films that tell the same story from multiple perspectives, where each character that tells the story tries to make themselves look good. And the story is set in 20th- or 21st-century Western civilization.
This article includes film stills. If you would like to see the illustrated version click here.
http://www.filmofileshideout.com/archives/favorite-scenes-no2-rashomon
Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon in 1950. The world of Rashomon is a tense chess game played by three characters. The game is less about strategy and more about positioning. Each person is trying to get the upper hand, both during the event as it transpires, as well as afterward when they retell their story. All three players are cheating.
Amidst the tangle of unreliable narratives there is a scene where things turn shockingly dark. Tojomoru the thief has just raped the samurai’s wife and he is hurrying off with her as his prize. As he runs he drags her behind him by her wrist. She stumbles after him but suddenly halts. Tojomoro is yanked to a stop when she unexpectedly digs in her heels. She turns back to glare at her husband, who sits tied to a stump.
She boldly thrusts out a pointed finger at the samurai and without taking her eyes off him she calls to Tojomoro “Please Kill him!” She steps back and crouches behind Tojomorou’s sweaty shoulder and repeats her demand “Please Kill him!” She seems to curl up and hide behind her new lover’s lawless bravado. Her fingers kneed his bare skin. She crouches slightly and narrows her eyes. She is hiding from her husband, but also hiding from the cruel audacity of her command, as if she doesn’t want to be seen making it.
Everything immediately changes. The game is now completely different. Her behavior had been predictable up to this point. She tried to escape, she resisted the rape, and cried pitifully at her powerlessness, but now she spins around and calls for her husband’s execution. Its a shocking turn of the tables. The audience has to reorient itself as the relationship between the chess pieces shifts.
Part of the genius of Rashomon is that we the audience continually forget to doubt what we are witnessing. The medium of film and our inherent trust of our eyes keeps making us forget to distrust what we see. Closer to the end of the film we begin to get the hang of it, but Kurosawa continually draws us in over our heads where we forget to be suspicious.
When Masako calls for her husband’s execution she reveals something that might have stayed hidden for the rest of her life. Hidden even from herself. The life of a samurai’s wife can be stifling. The required formali
... keep reading on reddit ➡I love Rashomon and the split narratives. Any good novels with a similar premise?
Before the pandemic, I used to attend a weekly film study group. My mentor in filmmaking made a list of films to watch and what's special with that film or how it contributed to the films of today. I'm not sure if he is still willing to facilitate such activity. While I still have the files and all, I'M NOT A CINEPHILE OR FILM BUFF, okay?
We already started on October 29, with a short introduction on why we watch movies. For this coming Saturday, November 13, we will be discussing the film Rashomon. If you’ve watched the film, feel free to join us. Hit me up if you’re interested. Also, it would be better if you could speak during the discussion to make the study more seamless.
Me: Check my former posts, lols.
You: Interested in films. Preferably beginners since if you attended art or film school, you might find it boring.
I found the artist Bruce McCorkindale on Twitter celebrating "Muptober" by drawing an arthouse adaptation of the Muppets for each day of October. So, I decided to match him and write one page based on each drawing he did. Here they are, if you click on the links below you will see both Mr. McCorkindale's art and the screenplay pages!
Day #1- "Erniecratz and Rosenbert are Dead" based on Tom Stoppard's Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead
Day #2 - "The Muppet Trial" based on Franz Kafka's "The Trial"
Day #3 - "Der Gorgen in Fraggle Felson" based on the German expressionist silent film by Paul Wegener "Der Golem"
Day #4 - "Rashomuppet" based on Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon"
Day #5 - "The Pig who Fell to Earth" based on Nicolas Roeg's David Bowie cult classic "The Man Who Fell To Earth"
Day #6 - "STROSZEKZO: A Muppet Ballad" based on Werner Herzog's "STROSZEKZO"
Day #7 - "Muppets Lost Highway" based on David Lynch's "Lost Highway"
Day #8 - "My Dinner with Beaker" based on Louis Malle's "My Dinner with Andre"
Day #9 - "London After Muppet Night" based on Tod Browning's lost silent film "Lond After Midnight"
Day #10 - "Muppets of the Afternoon" based on Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon"
Day #11 - "Mupnolia" based on Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia"
[Day #12 - "The Muppet Conversation" based on Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation"](https://twitter.com/BenjaminCrew1/status/145485365894916915
I do remember comparing Chantal to the unreliable narrator as a plot device. But add the respective channels of Nader and Peetz and you have different POVs to analyze. Chantal doesn't always have control of the narrative. Peetz can't even get social cues. So leave him to his own devices and we witness verbal diarrhea. Nader starting to get inquisitive might evolve into a battle of narratives (or POVs). Because we all know how Chantal initially sympathized with Mae and flipped sides once Nader convinced her otherwise.
The best example is Bookmark of Demise but since it is not licensed and not really popular, let me explain a bit, spoiler-less. It's the story of four high school students and some supernatural events they encountered. The same events are always told four times, each time from the PoV of each protagonist. Since each character has different personalities, perception skills, logic deduction skills, etc, even the same event is repeatedly told four times, it seems to the reader they are telling four different stories with a lot of factual inconsistencies and conflicting interpretations. This literary device is called the Rashomon Effect.
Durarara!! is also a good example, as well as Lonely Attack on the Different World (from vol 2 onward).
Thanks in advance! :)
This article includes film stills. If you would like to see the illustrated version click here.
http://www.filmofileshideout.com/archives/favorite-scenes-no2-rashomon
Akira Kurosawa made Rashomon in 1950. The world of Rashomon is a tense chess game played by three characters. The game is less about strategy and more about positioning. Each person is trying to get the upper hand, both during the event as it transpires, as well as afterward when they retell their story. All three players are cheating.
Amidst the tangle of unreliable narratives there is a scene where things turn shockingly dark. Tojomoru the thief has just raped the samurai’s wife and he is hurrying off with her as his prize. As he runs he drags her behind him by her wrist. She stumbles after him but suddenly halts. Tojomoro is yanked to a stop when she unexpectedly digs in her heels. She turns back to glare at her husband, who sits tied to a stump.
She boldly thrusts out a pointed finger at the samurai and without taking her eyes off him she calls to Tojomoro “Please Kill him!” She steps back and crouches behind Tojomorou’s sweaty shoulder and repeats her demand “Please Kill him!” She seems to curl up and hide behind her new lover’s lawless bravado. Her fingers kneed his bare skin. She crouches slightly and narrows her eyes. She is hiding from her husband, but also hiding from the cruel audacity of her command, as if she doesn’t want to be seen making it.
Everything immediately changes. The game is now completely different. Her behavior had been predictable up to this point. She tried to escape, she resisted the rape, and cried pitifully at her powerlessness, but now she spins around and calls for her husband’s execution. Its a shocking turn of the tables. The audience has to reorient itself as the relationship between the chess pieces shifts.
Part of the genius of Rashomon is that we the audience continually forget to doubt what we are witnessing. The medium of film and our inherent trust of our eyes keeps making us forget to distrust what we see. Closer to the end of the film we begin to get the hang of it, but Kurosawa continually draws us in over our heads where we forget to be suspicious.
When Masako calls for her husband’s execution she reveals something that might have stayed hidden for the rest of her life. Hidden even from herself. The life of a samurai’s wife can be stifling. The required formalit
... keep reading on reddit ➡Before the pandemic, I used to attend a weekly film study group. My mentor in filmmaking made a list of films to watch and what's special with that film or how it contributed to the films of today. I'm not sure if he is still willing to facilitate such activity. While I still have the files and all, I'M NOT A CINEPHILE OR FILM BUFF, okay?
We already started on October 29, with a short introduction on why we watch movies. For this coming Saturday, November 13, we will be discussing the film Rashomon. If you’ve watched the film, feel free to join us. Hit me up if you’re interested. Also, it would be better if you could speak during the discussion to make the study more seamless.
Me: Check my former posts, lols.
You: Interested in films. Preferably beginners since if you attended art or film school, you might find it boring.
Before the pandemic, I used to attend a weekly film study group. My mentor in filmmaking made a list of films to watch and what's special with that film or how it contributed to the films of today. I'm not sure if he is still willing to facilitate such activity. While I still have the files and all, I'M NOT A CINEPHILE OR FILM BUFF, okay?
We already started on October 29, with a short introduction on why we watch movies. For this coming Saturday, November 13, we will be discussing the film Rashomon. If you’ve watched the film, feel free to join us. Hit me up if you’re interested. Also, it would be better if you could speak during the discussion to make the study more seamless.
Me: Check my former posts, lols.
You: Interested in films. Preferably beginners since if you attended art or film school, you might find it boring.
I found the artist Bruce McCorkindale on Twitter celebrating "Muptober" by drawing an arthouse adaptation of the Muppets for each day of October. So, I decided to match him and write one page based on each drawing he did. Here they are, if you click on the links below you will see both Mr. McCorkindale's art and the screenplay pages!
Day #1- "Erniecratz and Rosenbert are Dead" based on Tom Stoppard's Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead
Day #2 - "The Muppet Trial" based on Franz Kafka's "The Trial"
Day #3 - "Der Gorgen in Fraggle Felson" based on the German expressionist silent film by Paul Wegener "Der Golem"
Day #4 - "Rashomuppet" based on Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon"
Day #5 - "The Pig who Fell to Earth" based on Nicolas Roeg's David Bowie cult classic "The Man Who Fell To Earth"
Day #6 - "STROSZEKZO: A Muppet Ballad" based on Werner Herzog's "STROSZEKZO"
Day #7 - "Muppets Lost Highway" based on David Lynch's "Lost Highway"
Day #8 - "My Dinner with Beaker" based on Louis Malle's "My Dinner with Andre"
Day #9 - "London After Muppet Night" based on Tod Browning's lost silent film "Lond After Midnight"
Day #10 - "Muppets of the Afternoon" based on Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon"
Day #11 - "Mupnolia" based on Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia"
[Day #12 - "The Muppet Conversation" based on Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation"](https://twitter.com/BenjaminCrew1/status/145485365894916915
I found the artist Bruce McCorkindale on Twitter celebrating "Muptober" by drawing an arthouse adaptation of the Muppets for each day of October. So, I decided to match him and write one page based on each drawing he did. Here they are, if you click on the links below you will see both Mr. McCorkindale's art and the screenplay pages!
Day #1- "Erniecratz and Rosenbert are Dead" based on Tom Stoppard's Rosencratz and Guildenstern are Dead
Day #2 - "The Muppet Trial" based on Franz Kafka's "The Trial"
Day #3 - "Der Gorgen in Fraggle Felson" based on the German expressionist silent film by Paul Wegener "Der Golem"
Day #4 - "Rashomuppet" based on Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon"
Day #5 - "The Pig who Fell to Earth" based on Nicolas Roeg's David Bowie cult classic "The Man Who Fell To Earth"
Day #6 - "STROSZEKZO: A Muppet Ballad" based on Werner Herzog's "STROSZEKZO"
Day #7 - "Muppets Lost Highway" based on David Lynch's "Lost Highway"
Day #8 - "My Dinner with Beaker" based on Louis Malle's "My Dinner with Andre"
Day #9 - "London After Muppet Night" based on Tod Browning's lost silent film "Lond After Midnight"
Day #10 - "Muppets of the Afternoon" based on Maya Deren's "Meshes of the Afternoon"
Day #11 - "Mupnolia" based on Paul Thomas Anderson's "Magnolia"
[Day #12 - "The Muppet Conversation" based on Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation"](https://twitter.com/BenjaminCrew1/status/145485365894916915
