Rashomon Film Analysis

The first film this week is called Rashomon and was directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1950. The film is in Japanese with English subtitles and starts off a bit slow with a monk and another man talking about a mysterious death they both witnessed. Along comes a third man and slowly he is told the story. As it turns out there are several accounts testifying about the murder and each is a little different. The victim in question was a man traveling with his wife who was assaulted by a bandit and tied up while his wife was supposedly raped. The bandit says he killed the husband because he wanted the women and she asked him to do it , the woman says she did it because her husband accused her of begging for it , and the husband, through a medium, says

The first article by Russel (2002) focuses on the many criticisms of Kurosawa’s film. For instance, one critic says thinks that Kurosawa mixes Japanese culture and American literature in his films. The second article by Gomes (2008) goes in depth about how ethnic stars are forced to become more Caucasian. There is an idea that ethnic stars are made to embody a sort of “Hollywood glamour” (Gomes2008). The third article by Linden (1973) gives the reader five views to consider on the film Rashomon. Gomes wants the people viewing the film to look at the film as commercial venture, a work of art, a cultural allegory, a film, and as a philosophical

For example, Rashomon is a Japanese film that became very popular in the states and The Outrage is an american remake of it. Therefore Ritt’s film serves the purpose of being and American take on a popular foreign film. As opposed to Kurosawa’s film Ritt’s film is in English, set in Southwest, but the same storyline has been applied to a more modern and American era. This film relates to the article by Gomes because Gomes talks about how Hollywood glamour and that brings to mind the way in which Ritt’s film adapted the story line from a Japanese film into American Film. In Rashomons case it relates to both the article by Russel (2002) and the article by Linden (1973). For example, in Russel’s article he talks about how some critics think that Kurosawa has integrated American literature into several of his films. In terms of Linden’s article he goes into how Rashomom “speaks to everyone, not just the Japanese”. Another article that relates to the theme is an article by Dominique Ageores called, “Foreign films a tough sell in America, but remakes thrive”. The title itself speaks of American’s take on foreign films. Ageores talks about how it is difficult for foreign films to thrive in America, they are commonly viewed in art house cinemas, but in terms of getting the general public to view the films it is much harder. Ageores also talks about how even when Japanese film studios like Ghibli