# Rashomon-type Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328 "2004-04-05T10:59:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/1 "2004-04-05T10:59:37Z")
Through the storytelling structure that (within the medium of film, anyway) has become directly associated with [Rashomon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/) (arguably the finest example) we get multiple accounts of the same events told from different perspectives. First one character tells the story then the next character says, “Nah, that ain’t how it happened, it was more like this. . .” I was giving a little Film History lesson the other day to a friend and I told him all about **Rashomon** and how it has influenced so many films that came since. Then as I sat so pompously upon my Film Buff high horse prepared to rattle off a list of titles that were examples of a **Rashomon** -influenced story structure, I suddenly drew a blank. I couldn’t come up with a single example! Even now, the only one I can come up with is [Courage Under Fire](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115956/). Now I know there’s a bunch of them. I know I’ve _seen_ a bunch of them. I’m sure I’ve seen at least three that have come out in just the past few years. Help me out folks! Name a few. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/2 "2004-04-05T11:18:06Z")
Like you, I have the feeling there are lots of movies like this but my memory is failing me! The only one springing to mind is the romantic comedy [He Said, She Said](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102011/), where we see how the man and the woman view events in their relationship differently. Oh, I just thought of another movie where the same events are seen from multiple points of view: [Go](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139239/). [Run Lola Run](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/) is similar in that it presents three different versions of the same story, although in this case it’s not a question of different perspectives. It’s more like parallel worlds, or a video game in which the heroine can try again and again until she gets the best possible ending. I’d consider [Memento](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/) a thematically related film in that it deals largely with the unreliability of memory. We only see one version of the story within the movie, but there are several versions of the unseen backstory. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/3 "2004-04-05T11:48:28Z")
The first one that comes to mind is _Citizen Kane_, which is primarily made up of flashbacks; however, _CK_ wasn’t influenced by _Rashomon_, predating it by about 9 years. It’s not quite the same idea, anyway, since the different flashbacks in _CK_ generally don’t have a great deal of overlap, while the flashbacks in _Rashomon_ are all focused on the same event. You might try looking at [www.imdb.com](http://www.imdb.com) For each movie, they have a “Movie Connections” link, giving a list of movies referencing a particular movie (among other things). Here’s the specific link for [Rashomon](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/movieconnections). Of course, I don’t see any information provided on specifically _how_ a given movie references _Rashomon_, so it’s not obvious that each of those movies listed must have the _Rashomon_ flashback style; some of them may reference _Rashomon_ in some other manner. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/4 "2004-04-05T11:55:04Z")
Although I would rather deny (or even better forget) having seen this film, [About Adam](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199314/) has some very Rashomonesque elements. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/5 "2004-04-05T13:03:59Z")
I _think_ [One Night At McCools](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203755/) is EXACTLY what your looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/6 "2004-04-05T13:34:01Z")
The racetrack robbery in Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing: we see the lead-up to it multiple times from multiple perspectives. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/7 "2004-04-05T13:49:10Z")
The idea has been used on a lot of TV shows, too. I know that it’s appeared on **All in the Family** and \*\* The Dick Van Dyke Show\*\*, and I seem to recall it elsewhere as well. Of course, as I’ve remarked before, I have this weird idea that seeing an idea on a lot of TV shows at very roughly the same time suggests that this was a screenwriting school assignment. Wouldn’t surprise me to find some teacher saying – “Hey, let’s try out the old “Rashomon” idea! Get inside your character’s heads and show what makes them _different_!” ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/8 "2004-04-05T14:40:59Z")
Darn it, I was going to suggest some stuff, but it’s all listed in the IMDB thing! But I guess I can verify the “multiple versions of a story” for the titles Hero (Yingxiong) and Courage Under Fire. But I don’t really see the big deal about this. It’s just the cinematic version of the unreliable narrator. ;p ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/9 "2004-04-05T14:51:08Z")
Well, there is the [Clue](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088930/) movie… If you ask me, I’ll deny I’ve seen it. But I’ve heard rumours it contains the same storyline with different endings. Rumours, that’s the ticket. And Tim Curry was old and needed the money. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/10 "2004-04-05T16:11:51Z")
Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction spring to mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/11 "2004-04-05T17:04:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction spring to mind. **Reservoir Dogs** and **Pulp Fiction** don’t really count. Nor does **Citizen Kane**. In those movies the story is tolf nonsequentially, and from the points of view, perhaps, of different characters. But the point of **Rashomon** was that the versions told by different people didn’t mesh – the stories were not the same. In the ones I just listed, the stories were identical. Great line from the Simpsons: Marge: You liked **Rashomon** the last time we saw it. Homer: That’s not the way _I_ remember it! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/12 "2004-04-05T17:59:09Z")
_Fight Club_ had a particularly mind-bending twist about the veracity of all that we had seen through the main character’s eyes. ---
**Author:** ![knarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@knarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knarf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/13 "2004-04-05T21:00:29Z")
Looking at Rashomon’s keywords on IMDb, you have contradictory-accounts (which also lists Basic, Courage Under Fire, The Falling and One Night at McCool’s) and multiple-perspectives (which lists some of the above, About Adam, Elephant, Eve’s Bayou and I Shot a Main in Vegas) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/14 "2004-04-05T21:36:45Z")
> [@Einmon](#): > > Well, there is the [Clue](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088930/) movie… If you ask me, I’ll deny I’ve seen it. But I’ve heard rumours it contains the same storyline with different endings. Rumours, that’s the ticket. And Tim Curry was old and needed the money. Yeah, but they’re not the same ending as seen by different characters, they’re just a bunch of “joke” endings, then the “real” ending. IIRC, the idea was, you’d have to see it in the theater multiple times to see all the endings. More of a marketing gimmick than an artistic statement. Funny movie though. “Why is J. Edgar Hoover on your phone?” “I don’t know. Isn’t he on everybody’s?” ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/15 "2004-04-05T21:58:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The idea has been used on a lot of TV shows, too. I know that it’s appeared on **All in the Family** and \*\* The Dick Van Dyke Show\*\*, and I seem to recall it elsewhere as well. **Mama’s Family** did a Rashomon-inspired episode entitled _“Rasho-Mama.”_ I am ashamed that I know this. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/16 "2004-04-05T22:07:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The idea has been used on a lot of TV shows, too. I know that it’s appeared on **All in the Family** and \*\* The Dick Van Dyke Show\*\*, and I seem to recall it elsewhere as well. > Of course, as I’ve remarked before, I have this weird idea that seeing an idea on a lot of TV shows at very roughly the same time suggests that this was a screenwriting school assignment. Wouldn’t surprise me to find some teacher saying – “Hey, let’s try out the old “Rashomon” idea! Get inside your character’s heads and show what makes them _different_!” How about _The Simpsons_ episode [“Trilogy of Error”](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/CABF14)? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/17 "2004-04-05T22:26:10Z")
I suppose the recent film _Big Fish_ might qualify. And wasn’t there an episode of the TV series MASH where Frank Burns was recounting some heroic action he had performed and than Hawkeye recounted his version of what had happened? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/18 "2004-04-05T23:04:26Z")
My favorite episode (well, one of them) of **X Files** is the one where Mulder and Scully are both giving reports about what happened while they were investigating a case. Both reports are ‘acted out’ as though we are watching what happened, but we see it once from the point of view of Scully, then again from the point of view of Mulder. The differences in their reports make for some pretty funny and character-revealing moments. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/19 "2004-04-05T23:27:19Z")
Xfiles did that a couple times, didn’t they? Once with Luke Wilson as the small town sheriff–when Mulder was telling the story, he was a bucktooth rube; when it was Scully’s turn, he was sexy and seductive. WAAAY funny. Then there was another one, right? with Charles Nelson Reilly? Or am I confused? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328/20 "2004-04-05T23:29:37Z")
I believe that the _Rashomon_ formula formed the basis of an episode of _The Lizzie McGuire Show_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rashomon-type-films/238328.md?page=2)