The Rashomon Effect

Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon" (1950, Japanese) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's "Anantharam" (1987, Malayalam) though created around three decades apart, do have some similarities especially in the context of their narrative techniques. Both masterpieces of cinema offer a vast expanse for exploration and study. Both the films tend to make use of multiple narratives to take forward the film in an interesting direction. 

The film "Rashomon" was the tool for the creation of a new phrase Rashomon effect. The Rashomon effect is the contradictory interpretations of the same event by different people; like the different versions of the four witnesses' accounts of a rape and murder in the movie "Rashomon". The idea of contradicting interpretations has been around for a long time and has ethical implications in theater, journalism and literature. 

In the film "Rashomon", various characters provide alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident. The film opens on a woodcutter and a priest sitting beneath the Rashomon city gate to stay dry in a downpour. A commoner joins them and they tell him that they've witnessed a disturbing event, which they then begin recounting to him. The woodcutter claims that he found the body of a murdered samurai three days earlier while looking for wood in the forest; upon discovering the body, he says, he fled in panic to notify the authorities. The priest says that he saw the samurai with his wife travelling the same day that the murder happened. Both the men were then summoned to testify in court, where they met the captured bandit Tajomaru, who claimed responsibility for rape and murder. 

In the climax of "Rashomon", at the gate, the woodcutter, priest, and commoner are interrupted from their discussion of the woodcutter's account by the sound of a crying baby. They find the baby abandoned in a basket and the commoner takes a kimono and an amulet that have been left for the baby. The woodcutter reproaches the commoner for stealing from the abandoned baby, but the commoner chastises him. We can deduce that the reason the woodcutter did not speak up at the trial was because he was the one who stole the dagger from the scene of the murder. The commoner leaves Rashomon, claiming that all men are motivated only by self-interest.

These deceptions and lies shake the priest's faith in humanity. He is brought back to his senses when the woodcutter reaches for the baby in the priest's arms. The priest is suspicious at first, but the woodcutter explains that he intends to take care of the baby along with his own children. This simple revelation recasts the woodcutter's story and the subsequent theft of the dagger in a new light. The priest gives the baby to the woodcutter, saying that the woodcutter has given him reason to continue having hope in humanity. The film closes on the woodcutter, walking home with the baby. The rain has stopped and the clouds have opened revealing the sun in contrast to the beginning where it was overcast.

In "Anantharam", the story develops through a commentary by the protagonist (Ajayan) about himself in the first person. Later he tells another story about his life with the same background. Finally both these stories fuse together. 

The main character Ajayan was born an orphan. He is brought up by a doctor. A brilliant child, Ajayan grows up into an introvert and confused youth. A beautiful girl Suma arrives at their house after marrying Balu, his  foster-brother. Ajayan at the very first sight of his sister-in-law gets sexually attracted to her. This creates internal conflict within him and ultimately he leaves the house. In the second story Ajayan narrates his confused youth and about the beautiful girl, Nalini, who enters his life. Ajayan's mind shifts often between reality and an imaginary romantic world. Finally both these stories converge at a point where both Nalini and Suma become a single entity.

The visual technique used by the director Adoor Gopalakrishnan to differentiate the two stories is worth mentioning here. In the final scene we find the boy (Ajayan) stepping down the stairs twice; by counting in odd numbers first and then in even numbers, thereby the Rashomon effect on life.   

"Rashomon" struck the world of film like a thunderbolt. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, effectively opening the world of Japanese cinema to the West. It won the Academy Award as best foreign film. It set box office records for a subtitled film. 

"Anantharam" won three National Film Awards. It was included in IBN Live's list of 100 greatest Indian films of all time.

Both the films depict the pursuit of truth through multiple narratives.

(This is a modified English translation of my article - അടൂരും അകിരുവും (Adoorum Akiruvum) - published in Cinerama, March 1989). 

Revelation - 25

Size of one’s Horizon depends on his position...

Revelation - 24

Faith makes one inactive,stubborn and closed.

Revelation - 23

Today's first train is running behind the last train of yesterday...

Revelation - 22

Love is the most painful thing in this world...