Rashomon
- A feast of slaughter and lies, do we seek the truth?
Foreword: Film Interpretation.
The movie "Rashomon" is Akutagawa Ryunosuke's gloomy and gloomy "In the Woods", and the fusion of Hei's classic sports shots shocked the entire Western film industry, so it won the Golden Lion Award in 1951.
What kind of movie is this? -
Rashomon, but piles of rubbish, heavy rain revealing troubled times of the levy. Famine and war have produced various sins and degenerations of human nature, making the entire generation inferior to beasts, moral disintegration, value disintegration, and everyone lying in order to protect themselves. And the most disturbing thing is the complete loss of trust between people and the degeneration of the world into a region. As the walking monk said in the film, "It's terrible if people can't believe what others say."
Akira Kurosawa peeled off the evil in human nature to show people layer by layer on such a cloudy and rainy day, but this does not mean that He denies the good side of human nature. At the end of the film, when the rain is over, the firewood seller will take an abandoned baby home to raise it, which shows the director's hope for people and his affirmation of the kindness in human nature.
In terms of film artistry, the insurmountable achievement of "Rashomon" is the revolutionary use of multi-angle narrative methods. The multi-angle narrative method adapts to a comprehensive way of thinking, starting from different angles, complementing and corroborating each other, and finally achieving a complete understanding and grasp. But what Kurosawa Akira used in Rashomon is the completely opposite and decomposed method, that is, each person's statement is false and true, each one tells a part of the truth, but it excludes each other, but also reflects the truth. The ins and outs of the truth.
An original suspense drama "SUMMER" that I am currently participating in, the plot and presentation method are somewhat similar to "Rashomon". The background is also the murder case, and the content is also the statement of each person, one by one, each case leads to another case, just like being in a peach blossom garden, thinking that you have walked out of the maze, but unexpectedly strayed into the depths of lotus flowers. On the stage, everyone carried a mysterious and eerie emotion and fearful words and deeds: we are young, we have remembrance and doubt about the truth and sin, and we try to expose it, but it leads to uncontrollable slaughter -
but what is the truth? ?
First, the four people involved in the film, robbers, warriors, women, and they woodcutter who is lying? Are lying? Are honest?
Robber multi-hsiang pills, Wushi Wu Hong, his wife and True Grit Woodman four people do not speak out of one hundred percent The truth is that everyone is driven by the maintenance of different personal interests (Wu Xian and Masa are more inclined to avoid something that makes them feel afraid, ashamed and unable to bear it), and carry out a certain part of the truth. Reconstruction, concealment, modification, and evasion are less important (these four words are listed in order of my degree of distortion of the facts from high to low), so four different statements are presented in front of us. That is, everyone is in a different motivation and must lie.
What part of the truth is each person hiding? Why distort the truth? The key issues surrounding it are:
1. "Who" killed the samurai?
2. How did the fight happen? Who cut the rope?
3. What happened to Zhensha's departure?
4. What is the main interest of an individual to protect himself? What is the motive for lying?
Different from the usual homicide reasoning stories, the three people at the core of the homicide in this story do not blame each other for the murder, but take the responsibility for the murder on themselves, including the samurai's undead confession of "suicide", forming a rather peculiar Perhaps this is related to the Bushido spirit of death that the Japanese adore, such as the beauty of cherry blossoms.
(1) Let's start with the woodcutter, because he is the most reliable:
1. People are killed by robbers. But the process was not as exciting and orderly as the robbers described. During the fighting, both of them were actually full of fear and riots, and it was a brutal fight. The robber worked hard to portray himself as a hero in the end, while the samurai portrayed himself as a tragic hero. In fact, neither of them was the kind of strong image that he tried to maintain.
2. The rope was cut with real sand, and it was intended to let the robber and her husband fight a fair fight, and let the victor own her with a neutral attitude. It's not like the robber said, the robber took the initiative to cut the rope and chose to fight a fair duel with the samurai instead of taking advantage of others' danger (who initiated the fair fight, this question is very important, it leads to a piece that everyone wants to whitewash It is also an important window to examine how the human nature of all living beings is manifested)
3. The woodcutter said that after Tajomaru raped Masha, he humbly begged Masha to go with him (not that Masha begged him to go with him as the robbers said, but this is a comparison of the samurai with what the woodcutter said. consistent, and the woman never mentioned that she had gone with the robber). Unexpectedly, he discovered that the woman's warrior husband was already disgusted by the spoiled woman, and he abandoned the woman because of it (maybe a man's possessive desire for a certain woman is out of jealousy of another man and competes with another man, once another The man abandoned the woman like a must, and his interest in the woman waned rapidly).
When Zhensha was humiliated and indignant, he said, "Men rob women with a waist knife!" This caused the two men to rekindle the fire of male instinct, and began to fight. In the end, the robber killed the samurai.
The woodcutter's motive for lying: Stealing a dagger.
The woodcutter wanders between darkness and light. He is indeed the best eyewitness in this case. As a bystander, he is the one who can tell the whole story. However, because he stole the treasured sword, he did not have the courage to tell the truth.
(2) The robber Tajomaru has been arrested, and he was involved in several bloody cases. Therefore, although there is a discount on the authenticity of the case statement, there is no need to lie about the big right and wrong. Judging from his arrogant and aggressive performance in court (laughing wildly), he is more concerned about his brave image, and his motives for whitewashing and distorting the facts are also here.
1. "I killed people." But Tajomaru's statement was that he didn't want to kill the samurai at first, which seemed to be
Masa's remarks, which seemed to provoke him to kill her husband (Tajomaru's description of Masa's words) It was "...either you died, or my husband died. Whichever one of the two men...give me a death!" According to the woodcutter's words, Zhensha was the first to cut her husband's rope before she became so angry. Whether the words happened to who cut the rope and whether it happened before or after cutting the rope is particularly critical to judging the intention of the real sand).
2. "I cut the samurai's rope." The woodcutter and Masa both said that Masa cut it, while the samurai said that it was Tajomaru. This detail is particularly critical to who actually launched the fair fight. Judging from Tajomaru's narrative, he refused to take advantage of the dangers of others and took the initiative to fight a fair duel with the samurai, and the process was very exciting. The samurai was already quite superb, but he was still the winner of the final duel.
3. "It was Masa who caught up with me, begging me..." The confessions of the woodcutter and the samurai both had the plot of Tajomaru begging Masara to return with him, but Tajomaru intentionally said that it was Masara who was chasing after him. From his mouth, he seemed to affirm himself. He is a strong man who completely surrenders women physically and mentally. His original intention is not to take away his wife or his husband's life.
Tajomaru's motive for lying: to maintain his heroic image. From the confession of Dosangwan, we heard that he was a man of blood and blood, but unfortunately because of a momentary lust, he lost his mind and committed the crime of rape and samurai killing. But in this process, I didn't take advantage of others' danger, and I didn't want to take away the wife. Everything was the original sin of the woman. (Digression: No matter what kind of man, whether a hero or a bear, at the end of the day, he likes to blame women for his misfortune - whether it is a moment of confusion or a moment of betrayal of principles, it is all women. original sin.
(c) the swing of true Grit.
in fact, this murder with the samurai actually mourning for what hand equally important issue is the true Grit chastity. true Grit said he is completely forced rape, but it is still very loyal to her husband, testimony Full of weakness, sorrow and tears. Where is the truth of the issue of "chaste", the most credible witness, the woodcutter, has not seen it, so there is no way to judge. But the interest that Zhensha wants to maintain is her own image of chastity, so she His testimony undoubtedly tends to portray himself as a completely powerless victim, omitting many details, and even appearing "unconscious" statements.
Zhensha's confession is the weakest in admissibility When my classmates and I were discussing, we even doubted the mental state of Zhensha at the scene of the murder. A woman was abandoned by two men, her husband was ruthlessly despised, and the robbers were wanton abandonment. This kind of blow was a disaster for women. As a result, Shinsa suddenly changed from a weak and docile image to a vicious and cold instigator, and his words and deeds were very provocative, quite hysterical and manic. This has appeared typical psychopathological "schizophrenia" symptoms For her testimony, I can only get some evidence of the emotional changes of the parties involved.
1. "Husband may have accidentally injured himself." Zhensha would rather die than be so despised by her husband, intending to commit suicide with a knife, but when she was upset, she took the knife and threw it into her husband's arms. When he was awake, he saw the corpse, and his spirit was greatly stimulated, so he attempted suicide several times, which fully showed the image of a poor wife with a difficult fate and a loyal heart.
2. The ropes cut themselves. However, the whole section of the fight was omitted, saying that the split was made after the robber left, to save the husband, not to provoke a fight.
3. He did not go with the robbers, but was despised by her husband.
Zhensha's motive for lying: To save her virginity.
Whether it is committing rape with a robber, intending to kill her husband in order to leave with the robber, or struggling to fight and being raped and choosing to be with her husband, a woman always has to take care of her own reputation. This motive is reflected in the statements of the four persons, and runs through the case from beginning to end. Women in ancient Japan also had to rely on famous festivals to eat, so Masa must lie to save the famous festivals.
(4) Call of the Undead: I committed suicide! This answer is the most surprising.
In the samurai's narration, his own death is to sacrifice his own life, to condemn his lascivious and cruel wife, to penetrate this dark and ruthless world with cold eyes, and not to be defeated and killed by robbers. The weak, but a glorious and noble dead, a loyal defender of the Bushido spirit.
1. "I committed suicide."
2. The rope was cut for me by Tajomaru after his unsuccessful search for true sand. No fighting took place. I killed myself in the grief of my stomach.
3. Masa agreed to go with the robber and asked to kill me (this shameless woman)
Samurai's motive for lying: to defend his samurai reputation. His lofty confession created a filthy, unsullied and upright image. He accused his wife of infidelity and ended up committing suicide, which fully demonstrated the spirit and self-respect of a warrior.
(Actually, he was a cowardly man who was not skilled in martial arts and saw that his wife was tarnished and unable to fight back. When his wife proposed to let the two fight a fair fight, he evaded the fight with eloquent words and humiliated his wife. In the end, the power of the woman's resentment broke out. , leading to a fight)
2. The samurai was killed and the murder case was made. Who was the murderer? Or is there no murderer at all?
Through the first part, the factual analysis of the statements of the four persons, I have come to the conclusion that the robber is the murderer.
Of course, from a medical point of view, the direct cause of death may be that the woodcutter pulled out the short knife later, causing coronary hemorrhage and death (the root cause of death). But the woodcutter did not intend to kill.
Akira Kurosawa's original intention was not to discuss who the murderer was, but Akutagawa Ryunosuke's novels have always been intended to be beyond words and surprises. It is not impossible that the murderer is hidden from the person in the case.
I was born in a doctor's family. From the description of the woodcutter, he witnessed the fighting. That is to say, the interval between drawing the knife and inserting the knife is very short in the end because of his greed for money. The human heart muscle is glued within a certain period of time and can still supply blood, but if it is pulled out hastily, it may lead to bleeding and death. This is the reason why in the case of construction site injuries, the migrant workers were penetrated by the steel bars and must be sent to the hospital together with the steel bars.
3. If you were a judge, how would you determine the facts of this case based on the statements and evidence of the four persons?
Everyone deduces a set of logic in order to safeguard their own interests. The more lethal the interests to be defended, the greater the incentive for individuals to distort. The interests of the four people are weighed relative to each other. From low to high, they are the
woodcutter (theft) < the robber (the image of the strong man) < the true sand (famous festival), the samurai (reputation)
. The husband's statement distorted the truth the least, because he was the furthest away from the core of the murder case, had the least interest in it, and had no human life involved. The above (the lady's hat, the cut rope, the body found) have been confirmed one by one, and in the description of the case, its causal logic is smooth and reasonable, and the description of the behavior of the parties (especially the weakness of real sand) Emotional change from obedience to vicious provocation) is detailed and specific, and the rhythm of all plot development has rules to follow, evidence and credible, the possibility of fiction and reconstruction is relatively small, the only distortion is that the valuable short knife is lost at the end.
Because the woodcutter is a good, honest and timid person from all the movies, it is impossible to distort the truth in a big way, and his lying skills are not very high. Compared with the key case of "who" killed the samurai, a plot that is not very conspicuous seems to be overreacted and less likely to lie. So when it comes to reconstructing the real case, I mostly rely on the woodcutter's testimony.
The rape scene, there is no way to know. However, the robber begged Masha to go with him, and Masha cut off her husband's rope and demanded a fair fight between the two, the samurai rejected his wife, Masha started a fight, the two fought, the samurai was killed by the robber, and Masha escaped. .
But the murder tool was a dagger, which was later stolen by a woodcutter.
2. The robber Tajomaru has been arrested, and he was involved in several bloody cases in the past, and his life was about to be killed. Judging from his arrogant and aggressive performance in court (laughing wildly), he is more concerned about his brave image, and his motives for whitewashing and distorting the facts are also here. But the image of a strong man is not a fatal problem for him, so although there is a discount on the authenticity of the case statement, there is no need to lie about the big right and wrong.
3. Masa and Samurai's confessions are the weakest. When I was discussing with my classmates, I even doubted the mental state of Masha at the scene of the murder. A woman was abandoned by two men, her husband was ruthlessly despised, and the robbers were wanton abandonment. This kind of blow was a disaster for women. As a result, Masa suddenly changed from a weak and docile image to a vicious and cold instigator, and his words and deeds were extremely provocative, quite hysterical and manic. This has the typical psychopathological "schizophrenia" symptoms. For her testimony, I can only get some evidence of the emotional changes of the parties.
To a samurai, a high reputation is as deadly to a woman as the festival of innocence is to a woman. So the samurai's statements are mostly false statements in the service of their own reputation.
Ps, on the admissibility of psychic testimony
In ordinary cases, psychic testimony certainly cannot be used as testimony. But the purpose of this film is not to reveal the facts of the case, but to express such a theme: for the same fact, everyone is driven by different interests, and they must defend themselves and make statements that are beneficial to themselves, just like mirroring a mirror. Each holds one end.
So, of course, the psychic testimony can be regarded as the statement of the samurai, and there is nothing wrong with it.
4. I feel that on a
summer afternoon, the shadows of the trees are swaying, and the light and shadow are mottled, as if lust is burning and people are suffering.
I am not a mature legal thinker, and my morals are too high, so I will talk about this story from a philosophical and emotional perspective. The story speaks to an enduring philosophical proposition: the uncertainty of narrative and fact. Or rather, what is the truth.
1. What is the truth?
Perhaps when an event "itself" disappears, all relevant accounts of the event cannot be purely objective. It is innate and hard to change the nature of people to pretend to be themselves and maintain their decency. In weaving lies for their own benefit, the world has become a world where people cannot trust each other. Of course, the world can maintain the appearance of happiness until the lies don't conflict with each other, and the truth doesn't conflict with each other.
Therefore, I believe that there is no known and objective truth in the depths of the human heart, and everyone's truth is reconstructed for the purpose of self-inclination.
So-called what we see is only the rational maintenance of the illusion and the partial burial of the truth.
Because God said, everything I see in the sun is vanity, like chasing the wind.
(Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.)
2. How does each person view his own good and evil?
It can be seen that in their respective stories, they have no major sins. In the stories, they all have sufficient reasons for their actions. Evil often occurs in others, and they are often innocent. This reflects the way humans naturally behave and think. We actually do it ourselves, we are always making excuses for our actions and getting rid of them.
Others are hell. In the face of the evil of others, there are two things that can be confronted, one is the courage based on universal justice, and the other is the courage based on one's own malice. In extreme environments, people often choose the latter. The narration from different angles in the film is actually each person starting from his own standpoint and seeking the courage to seek his own malice in the malice of others, no matter whether the malice is real or fictional.
But how long can this evil last? In fact, people can recognize the evils of selfishness and lying, so there is still a thing in human nature. This good thing instinctively tells people what is evil and what is good, and they feel ashamed. The sentient beings in Rashomon, at a certain moment in the narrative, show a gesture of fear, trembling, and avoidance. This is because they are ashamed of their instinct to lie.
Shame is the germ of goodness.
In "The Brothers Karamazov", the elder brother of Zosima, on his dying days, felt that life was heaven, that the connection between people should have been so close, and that he felt the deep sin in himself. , feel that his existence is ashamed of the singing bird outside the window. Wittgenstein's diary is filled with confessions of his own vulnerability and sin. Augustine, Rousseau, and Tolstoy wrote Confessions in unison. A person who can deeply realize how evil he is is actually a person who can understand what is good.
At the beginning of the film, the woodcutter saw that these three people were changing the truth for their own benefit. He doesn't understand why people hide from each other like this, why they are so selfish. When he saw that the person hiding from the rain even snatched the clothes from the abandoned baby, he even more angrily accused him. However, he did not expect that his conscience was also stained. In order not to get involved in right and wrong, he concealed the facts from the yamen, and previously stole the valuable short knife.
When we accuse others of their faults or even their sins, we are angry or even shocked, but in the face of our own faults and even sins, can we see and see clearly? So at the end of the film, the woodcutter says, "I don't understand my own soul." We can see other people's selfishness and lies, express "incomprehension" or even hate, but it is difficult for us to see our own selfishness and lies. Chapter 33 of the Tao Te Ching says, "Those who know others are wise, and those who know themselves are enlightened. Those who overcome others are powerful, and those who overcome themselves are stronger."
3. Where is the way out for humanity? For good or for evil?
In addition to the four people stated, the characters and words and deeds of the other two people each represent a color tone, forming a well-balanced structure with the previous four people.
The walking monk represents an expectation of good, and is the tone of the idealist.
When he first heard about the case, he muttered to himself, "How terrible it would be if people couldn't believe what other people said." The film's exposure to the evil of human nature is progressive. It was not so tragic and unbearable. With the deepening of the case and the four people's statements, the monks were disturbed by the situation of each saying their own words. The original sense of morality and trust in people, and the concept of right and wrong began to blur. , which casts deep doubts on human nature. Idealists are instinctively reluctant to approach or accept the truth.
Another passerby is a practical utilitarian, ruthless, selfish and greedy, even taking the clothes of abandoned babies, but he sees the truth of the murder case and the evil of human nature. He expresses a sharp, cold and sinful thing to the fullest. Although he has never committed a murder, especially the scolding of the parents who abandoned the baby, it seems that the audience agrees that human nature is inherently evil, and everyone must live in the world. This view of self-interest killing and lying and stealing from others. This is the climax of a play, with the acceleration of evil, wantonly destroying the good in the audience's heart. This is a typhoon-like, tyrannical desire to destroy that all Japanese have.
Fortunately, Akira Kurosawa is still sympathetic to the world after all. At the end of the film, he left room for justice and gave hope to the world. The film shows people's selfishness and lies and mutual distrust in the process, but at the end it shows people's reflection on selfishness and lies, as well as the trust that people re-established after walking through hell: the walking monk finally The child was handed over to the woodcutter.
It is under the comparison of the stories told by the four people, under the constant catalysis of the evil of human nature, and in a public communication environment, they finally see the sins of others, their own, and sins. How is faith in the human soul maintained? If we stick to our own thoughts, we certainly cannot see our own souls. However, through conversation, by externalizing and publicizing facts, we can finally see clearly the souls of others and at the same time our own souls.
Jesus told the people that only those who have done nothing wrong have the right to stone the sinful woman. But after discovering our own uncleanness, deeply amazed and remorseful for it, perhaps, we can find the strength to move towards goodness again.
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