Solomon

Emilio Solomon

Senior Seminar: Period 1

Mr. Clover

March 11, 2012

Rashomon Essay

In the movie Rashomon, directed by Akira Kurosawa, a priest, a woodcutter, and another

man settle in a gatehouse called Rashomon in order to avoid a rainy storm. The priest, the

woodcutter, and the man were all recounting the story of the murdered samurai, whose body was

found three days earlier in the forest grove. Along with the priest, the woodcutter, and the man,

three other people were testified at the trial with regards to what had happened at the forest grove.

The three people, including the bandit, the samurai, and the samurai’s wife told similar stories of

what happened. The movie, Rashomon reflects the views of Ebert and Morris on truth and reality.

Although Ebert believes that truth and reality are both subjective and are based on human

interpretation, Morris believes that truth and reality are independent of each other.

According to the Ebert’s views, truth and reality are both subjective and are based on human

experience as shown from the flashbacks in Rashomon. The flashbacks in Rashomon are both true

and false. The flashbacks are true because the witnesses present an accurate account of what

happened. However, the flashbacks are false, because those involved in the story, are not unable to

be honest of what actually happened. For example, in Rashomon, those involved, including the

samurai, the samurai’s wife, and the bandit all had their personal accounts of what happened. The

samurai’s wife claims that her husband looked at her coldly, after the bandit killed her husband.

On other hand, the bandit claims that the samurai’s wife asked for both the samurai and him to

duel because the samurai’s wife would rather go with the stronger man, where in the end, the

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Solomon

samurai is murdered. Nonetheless, the three witnesses in the refuge are accurate since they all

three claim that the samurai was murdered.

According to Morris’ views, truth and reality are independent of each other because every

according to Morris, we are continually investigating truth using evidence. Our views on truth and

reality is influenced by how much evidence we have. For example, in Rashomon, the three

characters involved in the murder of the samurai, all had their own evidence to support their story.

Even though the samurai, the samurai’s wife, and the bandit were able to tell the story and support

it with evidence, all three characters were not there at the same time when the story began. With

regards to the three witnesses, all three witnesses had their own evidence to support what

happened as well. For example, the woodcutter claimed that the bandit raped the samurai’s wife,

and begged for her to marry him. On the other hand, the samurai’s wife said that it was not for her

to decide. Nonetheless, in Rashomon, there’s only one person who killed the samurai, either the

bandit, or the samurai himself.

Furthermore, according to Morris’ views, truth and reality are independent of each other

because every human creates their own reality through perception. However, when our perception

is affected, our reality is also affected. For example, in Rashomon, the bandit and samurai’s

account of what happened is affected by their perception. With regards to the bandit’s story, the

bandit told the witnesses that he forgot about the dagger, owned by the samurai’s wife. On the

other hand, the samurai said that somebody removed the dagger from his chest. However, the

woodcutter claims that the samurai is lying since he claims that a sword killed the samurai. Both

the samurai and the bandit aren’t able to recount what happened accurately because their realities

do not cohere with the truth. Nonetheless in Rashomon, there’s only one person who killed the

samurai, either the bandit, or the samurai himself.

In general, both Ebert’s view and Morris’ view of truth and reality both reflect the ideas that

seeing is believing and the theory of common-sense realism. Ebert’s view of truth and reality

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would likely be related to idea that “seeing is believing.” Both Ebert’s view of truth and reality

and “seeing is believing” emphasize that truth and reality are subjective and based on human

interpretation. Morris’ view of truth and reality would likely be related to the theory of common-

sense realism. Both Morris’ view of truth and reality and common-sense realism emphasize that

truth and reality are independent of each other. Other examples such as the allegory of the cave

may show that “truth requires a search, quest, and investigation” as Morris, said in his interview.

By applying the views of Morris and Ebert to Rashomon, one cannot say that truth and reality is

merely subjective or that truth and reality is merely independent since the movie does not end with

a conclusion.

Works Cited

Poppy, Nick. “Interview with Errol Morris.” The Believer. N.p. n.d. Web. 11 March 2012.

“Rashomon (1950).” Man from film critic Roger Ebert. 26 May 2002. Web. 11 March 2012.

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