Comparison of the film Rashomon to the story “In a Grove”

Introduction

From the two short stories of Ryuonsuke Akutagawa, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon is loosely based. From the short story Rashomon, the film's opening and ending scenes are based, but the main story of the film is based on “In the Grove”. Naturally there are always differences between the film and the stories, like other books or novels that became films. In the case of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, the film is an interpretation of an individual. To translate the story which prevents to the big screen, there are inheriting limitations.

Discussion

Run down temple gate of Rashomon has been used in the film and, the background of the story consists of the heavy rains. The same settings from the short story Rashomon have been used, in the opening of the film. However, this is about, as the film moves forward with that story. At the front gate, a Buddhist priest and a woodcutter are sitting instead of a servant at the steps. The two of them sit there with the look of doubt. Some moments later, under the shelter of the ruined gate, out of rain, a man comes in and joins there. In the original story, this character of a man does not exist. To introduce the story “In a Grove”, this man has been used only as a tool.

In the traditional sense, the story, In a Grove, is not much of a story. It is more of a documentation of a trail which involves the murder of a man and a rape of a woman. With somewhat different stories, each parties and witnesses give their own testimonies of what they had seen and what happened. However, there is not verdict or resolve. With the murdered man testimony via a medium, simply the story ends (www.123helpme.com).

In expending the story, in a film, however, Kurosawa has taken liberties and has created a straightforward beginning, then the rise, climax, fall, and the end. The film would have been last for fifteen minutes, if he has made the film verbatim. Therefore, many significant differences exist in the film, besides the opening scene (Yoshimoto, pp. 182-189).

The first testimony of woodcutter is presented to us in the film. He finds a red lining amulet case, a man's hat and a women's hat. However, only a comb and a rope are presented to us in the original story. The purpose of showing more items in the film, when he encounters the dead body, is to create anticipation in the audience. Also, the items instead of a comb and a rope are much more visually appealing.

The second testimony by the Buddhist priest is not very much different from the original story. Even his final statement "Truly human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning." is used in the film.

The testimony of a policeman is very much different from the original story. At the river bank of Katusra, the bandit Tajomaru was caught in the ...