“In a Grove” Rashomon

Comparison and AnalysisJenny L. Wright

ENG 10323

The short story “In a Grove by Ryunosuke Aktagawa was made into the film Rashomon, by famed director Akira Kurosawa in 1951. Both the story and the screenplay tell of a man found murdered in a clearing in the woods. Kurosawa remains faithful to the plot and theme of Aktagawa’s story, with some changes in the characters and the mood.

“But is there anyone who's really good? Maybe goodness is just make-believe” (Rashomon).

Characters“In a Grove”

WoodcutterPriestPolicemanOld WomanBanditWomanMurdered Man –through a psychic

Rashomon

WoodcutterCommonerPriestBanditWifeSamuri – through a psychic

In the short story, the characters all have a solo narrative. They are simply testifying to a High Police Commissioner. There is no interaction between the characters. In contrast, the screenwriters for Rashomon use dialogue for majority of the movie. The movie’s dialogue opens with the woodcutter half- talking to himself, and half-addressing the commoner, who has just come into the ruins to get out of the rain. The changes are made because dialogue is essential to a movie.

“I just don’t understand” (Rashomon).

The characters in the short story are flat and one dimensional. Only the old woman is given any emotion. More detail is given to inanimate objects like the rope at the foot of a cedar tree, or a description of the woman and her horse, than is given to the people involved. By keeping the characters simple and matter-of-fact, Akatuwaga forces the reader to focus on their words. This adds to the aura of ambiguity: Who is telling the truth?

“No tortue can make me confess what I don’t know” (Harrison 535).

The characters in the movie, in contrast, are very animated and dynamic. It is up to them to tell the story of what happened in the grove; Kurosawa directs the actors past any pretense of subtlety. The bandit in particular is played for effect. He is in turn manic and subdued, amused and confused. Did he kill anyone? Ultimately, it’s left up to the viewer to decide.

The MediumOne of the most impactful scenes in the movie occurs when the medium speaks on behalf of the murdered man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ30N3aU1yc&feature=player_detailpage#t=20

MoodThe mood is enhanced by Kurosawa’s cinematography. The scenes that tell the various stories take place in a sprawling forest, a place where man (and the truth) could easily lose their way. The forest could also be said to blot out the light of truth. The sunlight is dappled because of the leafy canopy, and the characters are shown at times both in the light and in the shadows. Therefore, none of the characters, not even the bandit, are seen as totally evil or totally noble. The truth lies somewhere in between.

As the three men discuss what happened, the scenes are shot at the dilapidated gate in the midst of a torrential rainstorm. The stranger / commoner comes in out of the rain, suggesting that he is washed free of any illusions about human nature. His cynicism and pragmatism are shown as he is the only one of the three who bothers to light a fire. Kurosawa sets a mood of despondency that is not apparent in the story.

Finally, Kurosawa uses “triangulation shots” to great advantage. Numerous scenes include close-up shots of the Samurai, the Wife and the Bandit, increasing the tension. Triangulation is also used between the Woodcutter, the Commoner and the Priest.

ThemeThe major theme of both stories is the examination of the distortion of truth. As the city-dweller says, “[Humans] can’t tell the truth even to themselves.” And the priest says, ”Because men are weak, they lie to deceive themselves” (Rashomon). In the case of this story, people lie in order to bolster their egos. The Bandit tells that, although he defeats the Samurai, it was a glorious battle. Only the Samurai has crossed swords with him “twenty-three times”. The Wife lies to enable her to remain a weak victim. The Priest has distorted visions of what is good and evil. Self-interest and self-deception motivate all the characters.

Conclusion

Although “In a Grove” reads like a modern who-dunit, the story actually goes much deeper. The author uses multiple narrators to show the distortion of the truth. Kurosawa reinforces this idea with the use of distorted lighting and differing uses of flashbacks. Modern scholars have even coined a phrase, “The Rashomon Effect”, to describe contradictory versions of the true story.

Works CitedRashomon. Dir. Akira Kurosawa. RKO Radio Pictures, 1951. Netflix.

Harrison, Stephanie. ""In a Grove"" Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen. New York:

Three Rivers P., 2005. N. pag. Print.