Irreconcilable Realities, an Essay Written by Aaron M. Kenrner

While analyzing Kurosawa Akira’s Rashomon in the essay, “Irreconcilable Realities”, Aaron M. Kerner writes, “The substance of the film hinges on what is irreconcilable, and “resolving” the narrative would run contrary to the film’s central concern.” In this quote, Kerner is addressing the fact that the film does not have a conclusion where the audience knows the truth about the characters in the film. Rashomon instead addresses the natures of reality and real life through his filming of this unusual mystery story. He addresses storytelling through the eyes of different characters and shows how the different points of view can have a major impact on the telling of the story. By telling the story this way the film creates a commentary on society, but also comments on cinema. By showing that each character can participate in the same story, but retell the story differently with different outcomes, Kurosawa acknowledges that cinema is also a way of storytelling. Each member of the audience reads the characters differently due to their different backgrounds. The audience member is always participating and making meaning of the film, but they come to different conclusions based on their personalities. Therefore, the film’s “central concern” is acknowledging that stories are affected by the background of the storyteller. By “’resolving’ the narrative” Kurosawa would not only contradict the film’s main point, it would completely destroy it. To resolve the story, Kurosawa would have to give the audience a conclusive answer at the end of the film and instead of showing that each character created a different reality, the audience would conclude that the characters that did not tell the truth were merely liars instead of constructing their o...

... middle of paper ...

...s in command of the camera. He makes the camera move out of the way and hide behind him. He is large and he has all the power. Rooney is without any control, he is small and powerless. The camera moving behind Sullivan represents the audience. They know that Sullivan is about to murder Rooney and they do not want to be in between the two.

Throughout the scene Sam Mendes uses camera movement and distance to show Michael Sullivan’s focus and the inevitable downfall of John Rooney.

Works Cited

Bernstein, Matthew. “The Classical Hollywood Western Par Excellence.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 298-318.

Kerner, Aaron M.. “Irreconcilable Realities.” Film Analysis: A Norton Reader. Eds. Jeffrey Geiger and R.L. Rutsky. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2nd edition, 2013. 462-83.