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Interdisciplinary Studies in Letters & Science
Chabot College
Akira Kurasawa's Screenplay for Rashomon
Discussion Led By Don Skiles
TEXT: Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa, Director;
Donald Ritchie, editor). Rutgers Films in Print, Rutgers University Press 1996 ISBN: 0-81-351180-1
Monday, April 26: Read the scenario; we will discuss. You might want to also look at Kurosawa’s own "autobiographical statement" 114-22, and the two stories that were the basis for the scenario, pps. 97-109. There are a number of critical reviews of the film in the back of the book that are interesting to read – after seeing the film and reading the scenario.
Wednesday, April 28: We will view the film in Large Group.
Friday, April 30: We will discuss what we saw; in small Group, you'll be asked to write about Rashomon.
Rashomon won the Grand Prize (the Lion d'Or) at the Venice Film Festival when it came out, probably the most prestigious film award of that era. Kurosawa himself is considered to be among the greatest of directors, in the company of such giants as John Ford, Jean Renior, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, and Orson Welles. Many of Kurosawa’s films – Throne of Blood, Ikiru, The Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Ran
– are considered masterpieces of the film-making art."I also believe that every film must contain some degree of 'planned violence' upon its audience. In a good film, people must be made to see something that they don't want to see; they must be made to approve of someone of whom they had disapproved, they must be forced to look where they had refused to look." - French film director Francois Truffaut
"When. . .we read a novel, or see on the stage or screen a happening, we inevitably feel - if only because we are asked to give the event an hour or more of our attention - that it is offered to us as noteworthy, an example not of what happened (it didn't happen, it's fictional) but an example of what happens. The characters in the fictional work are (like the characters in newspaper items) individuals, not mere abstractions, but (unlike those in newspaper items) they are significant individuals, in some measure revealing to us a whole class of people or way of life." - Editors, Introduction to Literature (8th edition, Little, Brown)
Some links of interest:
Asian Film Connections (1998) Akira Kurosawa. http://www.asianfilms.org/japan/kurosawa.html
Berardinelli, James (1998) Rashomon - A Film Review. Reelviews -
Berardinelli sees films.
http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/r/rashomon.html
British Film Institute (2003) Akira Kurosawa. http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/kurosawa/
Writing Questions for Rashomon
April 30, 2004
Please choose one(1) of the below, and write your in-class essay accordingly.
Explore any one of the four versions of events told in Rashomon in relation to the others told. Which version is most believeable/probable?
Examine the theme of honor as it is reflected in the stories told by the bandit, the woman, the man, and the woodcutter.
What major differences do you note in the experiences of reading the scenario for Rashomon, and seeing the film? What conclusions do you draw?
Many have criticized the ending of the film - the revelation of the baby and the ensuing happenings - as a deus ex machina (god from the machine) ending (which Aristotle criticizes in Art of Poetry). Describe your view of whether or not the ending "works".
Both the woodcutter and the priest, in stunned fashion, repeatedly refer to the events narrated as "horrible" or "terrible". But what is so horrible about the stories revealed in the film? What can they be referring to?
What's the point - or points - Kurosawa is making in Rashomon? What do you think the film "means"? On what specifically in the film do you base your assertions?
What were the most impressive achievements in Kurosawa's film for you? Why?
Last Updated: 4/29/04 - SH