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Rashomon And Blowup: A Study Of Truth Essay

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Rashomon and Blowup: A Study of Truth

In a story, things are often not quite what they seem to be. Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon and Michaelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up are good examples of stories that are not what they first appear to be. Through the medium of film, these stories unfold in different and exiting ways that give us interesting arguments on the nature of truth and reality.

Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon tells the story of a murder. It flashes back to the event four times, each time as told by a different person. The present-time section of the plot occurs at a gate under which some characters take shelter from the rain. Three men can be found there - a woodcutter who repeatedly proclaims his misunderstanding, a priest who says that …show more content…

He forces the woodcutter's story out of him. The woodcutter's version is perhaps the most believable of all, and perhaps that's because it portrays everyone at their lowest common denominator. Yet his story could also be completely fictional, as if he had merely combined various parts from the previous tales. Perhaps by telling this lie and believing it, he is attempting to resolve his confusion over the issue.

The woodcutter's rendition begins with Tajomaru trying to persuade the woman to go away with him. She wants the men to fight for her, but the husband is disgusted with her and refuses. However, the wife quickly turns her tears into laughter and attacks the men's pride until they reluctantly begin their combat. The blundering sword fight that results contrasts sharply with the bravery and skill Tajomaru described earlier. It's interesting that the earlier fight seemed perfectly plausible within the framework of the story until the woodcutter's more realistic version makes it seem unlikely.

Rashomon plays with what we can perceive as truth. It paints a picture for us, and then tears it down when presenting another possibility which is equally likely. The film leaves us with myriad questions. What, here, is truth? Which tale, if any, is what truly happened? Do any of these stories have any truth in them? The image of the crumbling, rotted

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