Introduction to FilmScreenplay Adaptation

Rashomon

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

1950 Set in Feudal Japan Best Foreign Film

Award

黒澤　明 Akira Kurosawa

1910 to 1998 Witnessed Japan

rise, fall, and rise again.

Kurosawa’s best-known films are set in Japan’s feudal period

Loved Shakespeare’s work: Ran based on King

Lear Throne of Blood

based on Macbeth

Story

How is the story set up? Is it linear or nonlinear? How will this affect the

audience? Is it an allegory?

Conflict

What is the conflict in the story?Rape? Murder? Suicide?What is truth? What is reality?

Are the characters lying or do they actually believe what they are saying?“Rashomon Effect”

How is the conflict resolved? It isn’t. Why?

The Context of Rashomon

Why did Kurosawa need to talk about fact, reality, and truth?

What happened in Japan from 1940 to 1950? 1937 – 1945 2nd Sino-Japanese War 1941 – 1945 WWII 1945 – Atomic attacks on Japan 1946 – 1948 Tokyo War Crimes Trials

Setting Predictions

What locations are needed?

Character Predictions

Which characters have to be in the movie? Bandit, Samurai, Samurai’s wife

Who would Keanu Reeves play?

Plot Predictions

Can you just have seven separate scenes?

Did the story end on a happy or sad note? “And once and for all I sank down into the

darkness of space.” Will the movie have a sad ending? Examples of movies with sad endings:

A Clockwork Orange, 12 Monkeys, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Life is Beautiful

Japanese Culture

Bandit’s performance is over the top. Facial expressions are exaggerated. Eyes are culturally significant. Invisible authority.

Do we hear the policeman speak? Sword fights are stereotyped. In Japanese theater and film, a raped

woman is to blame for the crime. Samurai value honor over life.