The movie Rashomon (1950), directed by Akira Kurosawa, delivers an intriguing story of a murder of the samurai. The main characters, including a woodcutter, a bandit, and a wife of the samurai, tell the story of the murder in their own distorted ways. With the development of the plot, it becomes obvious that they all are lying because their versions of the murder are completely different. It is possible to say that the storytellers construct their “truth” depending on their social status, gender, and interests. Hence, the movie challenges the notion of truth arguing that it is manufactured, limited and significantly dependent on such issues as justice, punishment, desire and guilt.
It is possible to say that the main purpose of the movie is to portray how people of various social classes and different genders could limit and manufacture the truth. People used to believe that truth is a universal concept. However, the stories of the woodcutter, the bandit, and the wife of the samurai prove that truth could sound differently even if they talk about the same event. Each of them has manufactured their own vision of truth, and, to some extent, they do not lie since the samurai was actually killed. Yet due to their social status and personal fears, they limit the amount of truth, which could be told in public. For example, the woodcutter does not want to be involved in the case (Rashomon 1950). Hence, he tells only obvious details, which cannot help the investigation. Tajomaru wants to maintain his image of a merciless bandit. As a result, his truth is limited by his image of a ruthless offender. The story told by the wife of the samurai is highly dependent on the notion of gender inequality. Therefore, her truth is constructed on the basis of an insult made by her husband and Tajomaru (Rashomon 1950). The court represents the place where all witnesses should tell only the truth; however, neither of the main characters do it. At the same time, they also do not lie but try using truth for their own interests. Therefore, the movie, as a medium, tries to undermine truth by denying its universal character. That is, the testimony of the movie characters is a vivid example of how a man could distort truth without lying. Moreover, such distortion is not intentional but dependent on the social features inherent for a human being.
Aside from social and gender issues, the film illustrates how truth is related to the notions of justice, punishment, and guilt. The woodcutter is convinced that none of the stories told in the court is true (Rashomon 1950). Even though he knows the truth, the fear of punishment does not allow him to confess and reveal it. Logically, truth should free him from such feeling since he did not kill the samurai. However, the movie demonstrates the opposite arguing that fear of punishment is one of the main factors that prevent revealing the truth. On the other hand, the deceased samurai, who speaks through the medium, also tells his version of truth. Since he is dead, he supposedly does not have the interest in lying. The purpose of his story should be the restoration of justice. However, the film conveys that even justice, which should be the result of telling the truth, could be an obstacle at revealing it. That is, the samurai interprets justice as the desire not to be dishonored. Hence, his truth is also distorted. Finally, Tajomaru, the cruel and fearless bandit, modifies his truth due to the notion of guilt for raping the wife of the samurai (Rashomon 1950). It seems that the offender should not experience guilt. However, the film conveys that telling the truth is a difficult endeavor; thus, such action could aggravate the notion of guilt in a violent criminal forcing him to distort the truth. Therefore, it is possible to say that the movie argues that the notions of justice, punishment, and guilt could be the agents that modify and deform the truth.
It should be mentioned that even though the roles of the priest and the commoner might seem insignificant to the main storyline, these characters represent the desire to find out the truth. Each of them has their own answer to the question why people misconstrue the truth. The priest expresses enormous desire to believe that humans are not spoiled and would tell the truth under any circumstances. Conversely, the commoner argues that lying is an inherent feature and a desirable action for any human being (Rashomon 1950). The climax of the movie does not tell whose point of view is right. Perhaps, both of them are right and wrong at the same time, and the deed of the woodcutter proves it. He genuinely wanted to tell the truth he knew about the murder; however, he was also involved in a crime, as he stole the precious dagger from the crime scene, to feed his children. To protect himself and his family, he chose to keep silence. Thus, the film shows that desire to tell the truth succumbs to the personal gain.
To conclude, the movie Rashomon (1950) confronts the universal sense of truth arguing that due to the social status and gender inequality people often manufacture their own truth, which is limited according to their personal interests. Moreover, despite individual traits, a person could modify the truth due to the notions of justice, desire, punishment and guilt. The film shows how main characters view the truth. Each of them genuinely believes in their versions. Such approach encourages the viewer to consider whether an authentic truth exists and could be told without deformation. Even if the person eagerly wants to find out the truth, one could not be assured that he would endure it. Thus, the movie does not deny the existence of the truth but rather exemplifies that it is not inherent for human beings to reveal.
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