1. Give a brief outline of the plot (action) of the film.

The plot centers around 2 witnesses of a dead body, a woodcutter and a priest, who are summoned to court. The film starts off with them pondering if justice existed as another man joins them as he shelters from the heavy rain. There, the 2 witnesses retell their accounts in addition to the woman, the bandit, and the dead samurai’s accounts. The viewers get different versions of the event from the bandit and the woman as to how the samurai died. Towards the end, it’s revealed that the woodcutter actually saw what happened, but didn’t tell it in court. The woman actually had the bandit and her husband duel for her, and the bandit ended up killing the samurai. However, the woman runs away despite the bandit winning. 

2. What are the main symbols in the film, what do they represent?

One of the main symbol in the film is the heavy rain as it gives the film a gloomy mood to pair with the tragic flashbacks in which a man dies, and a married woman is raped. As the film concludes, viewers see that the rain has stopped once they find the baby and the woodcutter leaves. Another symbol in the film is the baby found in the end represents the restoration of faith in humanity. After witnessing the many lies told in court and witnessing a murdered man, the two witnesses were stumped and believed men are evil at their core. However, since babies represent purity and innocence, it shows the two men choosing to believe in the good of men. 

3. What are the main philosophical questions (ideas) being raised by the film? How are these themes still relevant today?

The main philosophical idea raised in the film is an introspective illusion where the witnesses are telling accounts based on their perceived accounts which end up causing each of them to differ. This is because each of them wants to give themselves the benefit of the doubt for their actions by justifying them and placing the blame on others rather than themselves. 

4. How is the structure of the film important to the telling of this story?

The structure of the film which starts off with introducing the dilemma the two men felt conflicted by allows viewers to understand the situation. Then, by proceeding on with the accounts of each witness, then those involved set up a coherent plot. The structure of the flashbacks doesn’t interrupt the sequence of the plot, but helps it. 

5. Whose story did you find most trustworthy and why? 

I found the woodcutter’s story to be the most convincing, specifically the one he told near the end, because it has elements of the woman, the murdered warrior, and the bandit’s accounts within it. Since the woodcutter had no involvement in the murder of the warrior, but was simply a witness, I believe his account was the most trustworthy. 

6. Consider the final scene when the Priest chooses to hand the baby over to the Woodsman. What is Kurosawa trying to say with this gesture?

Kurosawa is trying to say that there are still good people in the world even if there are many who are bad. The priest saw how the woodcutter seemed like a genuinely good human being with a moral compass after being at court and witnessing lies upon lies, then watching a man steal an amulet from a baby. 

7. Rashomon is an adaptation of a short story written by Akutagawa, consider what elements are present in the film that enhance or diminish a story like this. Are there aspects to the story that might be better served on the page, why?

Aspects that might be better served on the page are internal dialogues of characters. When reading, there’s the ability for readers to hear the thoughts inside the characters’ heads while on film, we only witness dialogues amongst characters that are spoken aloud. Viewers can grasp a deeper understanding of characters with their internal dialogues and better judge them as a character through their morality.