In the 1951 Japanese film Rashomon, director Akira Kurosawa sets “In a Grove”, a short story telling the varying testimonies of four witnesses, the bandit, the Wife, the Samurai through a medium, and the woodcutter, Kikori, to the death of the Samuari, in Rashomon, Japan. The movie begins at the Rashomon town gate where three men, Kikori, the Priest, and another man take cover from the rain. Kikori and the Priest tell the other man their story of the trial concerning the death of the Samurai. When preparing to film Rashomon, Kurosawa’s three assistant directors came to him puzzled because they did not understand the story. Kurosawa told them the story should be comprehendible and goes on to explain it to them. Two of the assistants were pleased with his explanation, but the other still did not understand. Akira Kurosawa explained that Rashomon displays that humans will lie to make themselves look better.
Kurosawa first explained the testimony of the Bandit, Tajomaru. In the Bandit’s testimony, he admits to stealing the Wife and killing the Samuari, but he tells his story as if what he did was honorable. He says that he wanted the woman so he went after her and would do anything to have her, but had intention of killing…show more content… The Wife says that the Bandit did capture her husband and tied him up, but she did not give Tajomaru consent to sex and he went on to rape her. She then tries to run to her husband’s side but is pushed down by the Bandit. When the Bandit leaves them alone in the forest, the Wife rushes to her husband’s side and she describes that he gave her a look of loathing, not anger or sorrow. It hurts her so much that she cuts her husband out of the rope and holds the dagger, asking him to kill her. He keeps his look on her and then she faints. The woman wakes up to see the dagger in her husband’s chest. The woman’s story to the court says that she was loyal to her husband and did not do anything