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

• In Rashomon, it depicts 4 different witnesses as they recall the murder if a husband and the rape of his wife.

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

• The forest plays a big role in the film as a symbol because it represents how difficult it is to believe each of the witnesses because there rarely are eyewitnesses in a forest or open space to clearly see things occur, so it’s easy to formulate a lie. 
• Rain represents the conditions of Kyoto being washed away and also the gloomy situation of trying to discover who killed the husband and raped his wife. 

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

• The mean philosophical ideas raised throughout this film is how when people are asked to tell the truth, most of the time it’s the particle truth with other additions that helps them be interpreted as someone who “made the right choice” or as a person that fits into the standards of what society may believe is acting ethically. 

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

• The flashback structure of the film when each witness is sharing their point of view of the events, is important to the telling of this story because it shows how unreliable some of the characters are and now they interpret the events that occurred with the husband and wife. 

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

• I found the woodcutters story to be the most believable because his story in my eyes was a version of the other three witnesses stories combined that made more sense. Throughout all the stories and viewing the flashbacks, the husband didn’t seem that enamored with his wife, so the bandits story of having a sword fight with the husband over his wife seems over exaggerated after hearing everyone’s story. 

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 may be trying to say with this gesture that there is always time for redemption, as the woodsman originally lied about the events that occurred to prevent himself from being reprimanded. 

7. Rashomon is an adaptation of a short story written by Akutagawa, considering 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?

• The main aspects of the film that enhance a story like this is that still in the present day people put their own self interest first and the way they are viewed by the public above the truth. In addition to that, everyone has their own perception and the way they understand events is how it happened through their eyes.

– TALIA