Very interesting essay! I saw Rashomon for the first time a few months ago, and I caught a lot of what you write about, but you also mention a couple of things that I didn't think about (specifically regarding the camerawork obscuring parts of the story that the storytellers would want to hide).
I had not considered the symbolic and technical significance of when the camera shoots the sun. It made me think of how "staring at the sun" can be a metaphor for willfully going "blind." How blind were the characters to their true selves? To the objective truth? How blind is the audience? How often do we prefer to stare at the sun rather than face our faults and true selves?
In my opinion, the coup de grace of untruthfulness in the film is the final scene regarding the baby. After everything we've witnessed, we the viewers are now suspicious that the woodcutter and the priest are not altogether truthful and likely are also concealing less than moral motives regarding the baby's welfare. So much innocence lost on so many different levels.
Shinmaru
Title: Otaku Legend | Posted 05/13/09 | Reply
Very interesting essay! I saw Rashomon for the first time a few months ago, and I caught a lot of what you write about, but you also mention a couple of things that I didn't think about (specifically regarding the camerawork obscuring parts of the story that the storytellers would want to hide).
Tada no kusuriuri desu yo.Koishi Magna
Title: Otakuite++ | Posted 05/12/09 | Reply
Wonderful review!
I had not considered the symbolic and technical significance of when the camera shoots the sun. It made me think of how "staring at the sun" can be a metaphor for willfully going "blind." How blind were the characters to their true selves? To the objective truth? How blind is the audience? How often do we prefer to stare at the sun rather than face our faults and true selves?
In my opinion, the coup de grace of untruthfulness in the film is the final scene regarding the baby. After everything we've witnessed, we the viewers are now suspicious that the woodcutter and the priest are not altogether truthful and likely are also concealing less than moral motives regarding the baby's welfare. So much innocence lost on so many different levels.
Your essay was well written too. Great job!