Rashomon (possible SPOILERS)...I don't get it

Cafe Society
1

Hi,

I watched Rashomon for the first time the other day, and I didn’t get a couple of things. Perhaps some Rashomon boffin can explain to me:

  1. Which story is closest to the truth?
  2. What really happened anyway?
  3. Where did the baby come from?
  4. Why does the priest tell the baby-keeping wood gatherer that the wood gatherer has restored his faith in humanity?

Very interersting movie, but Kurosawa got by me with some of his curves.

Thanks

2
  1. I believe the wood gatherers story is the closest.
  2. The bandit was a coward, the samurai was a coward, the samurai’s wife was disloyal, and the wood gatherer was a thief.
  3. I forget, I believe there was a famine or some other disaster and the baby was simply an orphan.
  4. Because although the wood cutter was living a hard life he was still willing to take in the baby and care for it as his own.
    Marc
3

The entire POINT of the movie is that you don’t know what really happened.

4

That’s not how I remember it!

5

Har. You forgot your brackets

6

That got misparsed by the hamsters; even ,<code> brackets don’t work:

7

Ebert has a good review of it that will address some of your concerns.

I haven’t seen it in years so I can’t comment specifically on the details you mention.

8

If you can find it, the Grove paperback edition of the script of Rashomon contains several essays on the film, including one about The Great Rashomon Mystery. Well worth digging up and reading.

9

The wood gatherer was Keyser Soze.

10

“Rashomon” was the name the sled he had as a young boy.

11

Yeah, don’t forget the last line of the movie was something to the effect that “these days you can’t believe what anyone is saying.”

This movie isn’t just the woodcutter telling about other people’s testimonies, it’s also the filmaker telling a story about a woodcutter who… You get the idea.

Trivia: The rain came from a fire engine. The town’s water supply went dry before they finished the shooting, which forced Kurosawa to use sound and lighting effects to suggest the pouring rain.