Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film 'Rashomon' film analysis and review

Rashomon is a 1950 film directed by Akira Kurosawa, written by Kurosawa and Shinobu Hashimoto, and based on the 1922 short story “In a Grove” by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.

Rashomon is set during a period in Japanese history marked by the collapse of feudalism, social, economic, and political upheavals and widespread looting. The film begins in a partly demolished temple called Rashomon occupied by a priest and a villager named Kikori. They are joined by another villager seeking shelter from the rain. The priest and Kikori are depressed about the recent murder of a samurai. Men are killed everyday but the murder of this samurai is extraordinary. The villager rips some planks of wood off the temple, uses these planks to start a fire, and Kikori and the priest take turns describing the samurai’s murder. Only 4 people witness the crime--a bandit, the samurai, the samurai’s wife, and Kikori. 4 witnesses, 4 versions of the samurai’s death. Who killed him? And what happened to the dagger? As it turns out, the key to solving the crime comes from the most unlikely witness when they discover a baby abandoned by its parents inside the temple. Rashomon stars Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Machiko Kyo, and Minoru Chiaki. The cinematography is by Kazuo Miyagawa, the music is by Fumio Hiyasaka, and the film is edited by Akira Kurosawa. Among Kurosawa’s shortest films at only 88 minutes, Rashomon is among the director’s most important works, a film that pioneered the use of multiple perspectives. In this presentation, I will examine the film’s themes and I will offer my personal opinion of the film at the end.

Themes

Truth is in the eye of the teller

Remember the good ol’ days when families ate dinner together? When there were family values? When kids respected their parents? When boys wore belts? When you could leave your doors unlocked? When men earned enough to support their families? When it was safe to walk the streets at night? When gas was 25 cents a gallon? When everybody got along?

Or do you remember the bad ol’ days? When skin color determined where you sat on the bus? When women couldn’t vote? When banks redlined? When the U.S. government exposed Americans to atomic explosions? Or Jim Crow? Or lynchings? Or back-alley abortions? The bottom line is that when it comes to life, we “remember the good stuff and forget the bad stuff.”

In Rashomon, 4 eyewitnesses give conflicting accounts of the death of a samurai. Tajomaru the bandit admits to killing the samurai but doing so honorably by first, cutting the samurai free and then killing him in a duel. Tajomaru also admits to taking the horse of the samurai’s wife and selling the samurai’s sword; the samurai’s wife’s account of her husband’s murder is basically the same as the bandit’s account, but in her version she begged her husband to kill her before passing out. By the time she came to, her husband had already taken his life with her dagger; the samurai’s own account of his death is a bit different. After being raped, his wife begged Tajomaru to kill him--her husband--to hide her shame. She even begged Tajomaru to take her with him. Instead, according to the samurai’s story, Tajoramu untied him and left him with his wife. The samurai, then, killed himself with his wife’s dagger. The samurai claims that someone had later pulled the dagger out of his chest. A villager named Kikori tells the police that he only saw the dead samurai. But later his story changes and he claims he saw Tajomaru begging the woman to be his wife. The woman then cut the ropes off of her husband and told him and Tajomaru to fight to decide whom she would belong to. For this, the samurai called her a whore. Both men spurned her but she was cunning and manipulated their egos to make them fight each other. Tajomaru defeated the samurai who died begging for his life, according to Kikori’s story.

Why lie?

There’s no question about the dead samurai; the question now becomes motive. There seems to be no reason to doubt any of the witnesses as their stories fit not only who they are but what they are.

For instance, Take Tajomaru, a savage and a bandit who admits to tying up the samurai, raping his wife in front of him, and killing the samurai honorably in a duel. Tajomaru also admits to being a thief, stealing the woman’s horse, the samurai’s bow and arrows, and trading the samurai’s sword for liquor. Tajomaru is also famous for womanizing, raping a woman and her maid.

Now, let’s look at the samurai’s wife, the weaker sex and obvious victim. She cries during the interview and this makes her version of the story believable to the men listening to her. She claims that she ran to her husband’s side after Tajomaru raped her. She freed her husband and begged him to kill her with her own dagger. What could a poor helpless woman do to prevent her husband from killing himself?

Then, there’s the samurai who held his wife on a pedestal. The samurai admits that he tried to console his wife and that she never looked more beautiful than she did after Tajomaru raped her. But she betrayed him by asking Tajomaru to kill him to hide her shame. He was even ready to pardon Tajomaru who asked him whether to kill the woman. After Tajomaru left, the samurai says that he killed himself with his wife’s dagger.

Then there’s the wood-cutter Kikori who happened to be in the forest. He admits to lying to the police about not seeing the actual crime and only finding evidence of the crime--the samurai’s cap, the woman’s hat, and the rope. Kikori’s 2nd story is similar to Tajomaru’s story except for the fact that Kikori saw the woman manipulate Tajomaru and the samurai to fight each other; and he also saw the samurai begging for his life.

Why not lie?

Proverbs 18:17,
“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

Matthew 6:21,
“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

As we see so far, the testimony of each witness fits their character. Tajomaru’s testimony fits his reputation as a womanizer; the woman’s testimony fits her position as the weaker sex as Tajomaru tells the samurai--“she is a woman and weak by nature”; the samurai’s testimony seems truthful because he is dead and--according to the priest--dead men don’t have a reason to lie; Kikori’s testimony makes him look like an innocent bystander.

Despite this, there remains inconsistencies in each witnesses’ testimony. But what is consistent is that each witness is trying to protect something of value.

Tajomaru’s account of the murder adds to his ruthless reputation but also makes him look honorable in that he unties the samurai and gives him the opportunity to avenge his wife. The woman’s account of the murder makes her look weak and also appeals to the protective instincts of men who are manipulated by a woman’s tears and view women--as Tajomaru says--as weak. The samurai’s account of the murder paints him as compassionate towards his wife after Tajomaru rapes her. The samurai also portrays himself as a victim by his wife asking Tajomaru to kill him to hide her shame. Kikori’s account of the murder paints him as a bystander who just happens to stumble upon the scene looking for wood.

The problems with the Kikori’s story

He witnesses 2 crimes--the woman’s rape and the samurai’s murder. Why didn’t he intervene and why did he withhold this information from the police?

Another problem with Kikori’s story is that it doesn’t take into account the fact that Tajomaru--in addition to being a womanizer--is also a thief. Remember Tajomaru had taken everything of value from the scene of the crime--that being the woman’s virtue, the samurai’s pride, her horse, the samurai’s bow and arrows, and the samurai’s sword which he said he bartered for alcohol. One would think that Tajoramu would have taken the woman’s dagger also.

The problem with the woman’s story

She says that she asked her husband to kill her and when he didn’t kill her she tried to drown herself in a pond. Now, one would think that if she wanted to kill herself she could have done so with the dagger she says that she cut her husband’s rope with.

The white horse

The fact that the woman could have killed herself with the dagger compels us to consider the possibility that she may not be the virtuous wife she seems to be. This possibility is expressed indirectly through symbolism. For instance, let’s consider the white horse the police claims that Tajomaru stole from the woman that the samurai had placed her on to exalt her above Earth and man. The policeman found Tajomaru laid out on the beach and assumed that the woman’s horse had thrown him off. But Tajomaru tells the police that the horse did not throw him off, a metaphor suggesting that the woman gave herself to him willingly and that he did not take her by force.

Temptation

Matthew 26:41,
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Taking into account the possibility that the woman may be lying to protect her virtue, we can explore more symbolism in the film.

Earth

Although she is portrayed on a white horse as the model of virtue and above Earth--or the power of temptation--she dismounts her white horse to get a drink of water which represents her fall from the divine to Earth and the desires of the flesh. This symbolic scene foreshadows her sexual encounter with Tajomaru.

Nature

Tajomaru is not ashamed of his nakedness and leaves most of his body uncovered in contrast to the samurai and the woman whose bodies are almost completely hidden. Tajomaru ties up the samurai to let him see the woman giving in to him. Tajomaru becomes disappointed when she pits him against her husband to decide her fate, their symbolic duel representing the duality of man’s divine ideal against his carnal nature with carnal nature winning!

Selfishness

Listener: “Man just wants to forget the bad stuff and believe in the made up good stuff because it is easier that way.”

A marriage ends in a bitter divorce. Whose fault is it? Depends on who you ask. The ex-husband will blame the wife and vise versa. Both are victims. But nothing in life is black and white and neither are people.

Tajomaru

Tajomaru’s version of the story omits the fact that the woman rejected his offer to run away with him. He also (according to Kikori’s version of the story) killed the samurai as the samurai begged for his life--not an honorable way to win a duel.

Samurai

The samurai’s version of the story omits the fact that he gave his wife the cold shoulder after Tajomaru raped her. The samurai’s story also leaves out him begging Tajomaru not to kill him.

The samurai’s wife

Her version of the story omits the fact that she enjoyed making love to Tajomaru. Her story also leaves out her manipulating Tajomaru and the samurai to fight over her which they probably did or probably did not do. And If they didn’t fight over her, she probably got pissed off and killed her husband while he was tied up to keep him from spreading her shame.

Kikori

His version of the story omits the part that would make him look like a thief. Symbolically, the baby they find abandoned in the corner of the temple provides the clue as to Kikori’s involvement. The listener taking the kimono off the baby and Kikori taking the dagger from the samurai’s dead body are one and the same thing and here’s how they both relate: the samurai and the baby are abandoned by lovers who--as the listener says--throws them away after having their fun. Both the kimono and dagger are left to comfort the baby and the samurai and when the listener says to Kikori--who calls him evil--“If you are not selfish, you will die,” the listener sums up not only his justification for taking the kimono from the baby but also Kikori’s own justification for stealing the dagger off the samurai which he did to feed his 6 kids! Selfishness is also the underlying motive of the samurai, the samurai’s wife, and even the priest whose desire to find goodness in man--such as him saying that “dead men don’t lie and him refusing to believe that man can be so sinful--prejudices him against the possibility that all of the witnesses are lying. The priest also objects to hearing Kikori’s account of what happened to the samurai.

So, what really happened to the samurai? Who knows. But 1 conclusion we can definitely draw from Rashomon and life is that truth is subjective and in order to get it you have to hear all sides as history favors the view of he or she who writes it.

Wrap

Director Akira Kurosawa wanted to make a simple beautiful film and in Rashomon the director has done just that, a film calling to mind Stanley Kubrick’s 1956 film The Killing and Christopher Nolan’s 2000 film Memento, films that also called truth and its subjective nature into question.

For Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa received the National Board of Review’s award for Best Director. And at the 24th Academy Awards in 1952, Rashomon won for The Most Outstanding Foreign Language Film. The film is also Toshiro Mifune’s and actor Takashi Shimura's 1st pairing, both of whom reunite 4 years later in Kurosawa's legendary 1954 epic Seven Samurai.

Like another great film by another great director I admire, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1944 film Lifeboat, Rashomon is an oxymoron: at only 88 minutes, it is both light and heavy and gets better and better each time you see it.