Rashomon

Rashomon won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and Seven Samurai was remade as the Western, The Magnificent Seven! During the 1950s, the American film industry decreased in Western movie productions for the big screen. Most Westerns were produced…

Honor, a Path to Death According to the Oxford dictionary, the term "honor" comes from the Latin word "honos," which means respect and esteem. In many cultures, the concept of honor is imperative because it provides the foundation for the values and morals of humanity. Moreover, for some individuals, trust is about the integrity of their beliefs, while for others, it is a source of dignity and social status. In some cultures, the affairs of esteem are sacred. It is an obligation for a shamed…

The Samurai Film Maker Akira Kurosawa is considered by many to be one of the most influential film makers of all time. Many of his films have been remade or his concepts repurposed for a new audiences; Seven Samurai was remade into the Magnificent Seven, The Battle Beyond our Stars, Zhong yi qun ying (Seven Warriors) and a Japanese anime series, Samurai 7. Kurosawa’s Yojimbo was remade into a Fist Full of Dollars, Last Man Standing, and another anime series, Kaze no Yojimbo.(Maunula,2014)…

Having taken place in the 12th century, Rashomon also has an added element of rich, traditional cultural views that govern its characters. The very Asian culture of ‘saving face’ is still prominent today, and I feel it is one of the reasons that made some characters bend the truth. For example…

When Citizen Kane was released in 1941, it forever changed the film industry and exposed the world to a great cinematic masterpiece that used the American Dream as a foundation for it’s plot. Nearly a decade later Rashomon was released and displayed the unique aspects of Japanese cinema and the pursuit of the truth. Orson Welles and Akira Kurosawa both had clear visions of what they wanted their films to be; however, the two men took different approaches. Welles demonstrated different filming…

This is the annotated bibliography for my Essay 3, which aims to analyze “In a Bamboo Grove” selfishness of the characters. Oldenquist, Andrew. "The Possibility of Selfishness." American Philosophical Quarterly 17.1 (1980): 25-33. Web. 28 Mar. 2017. . In this article, Andrew Oldenquist says that humans are naturally selfless—not selfish—and are “goal-seeking entities” (25), or individuals who work together toward helping their group. He argues that “the ‘natural state’ of goal-seeking entities…

Akira Kurosawa was born in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan on March 23, 1910 and died September 6, 1998 at the age of 88 of a stroke. Kurosawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who to this day is regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa began his journey in the Japanese film industry in 1936, after a brief pursuit of painting. Kurosawa debut as a directer after many years of working on films as an assistant director and scriptwriter, with his…

The auteur theory offers a distinct view on films, stating that the movies portray a part of the director and is signed with the spesific qualities of the director. In his essay, “Towards Theory of Film History”, Sarris defends that the auteur theory changed the way film critics valued films. This theory was revolutionary since it brought a whole new set of values against Hollywood filmmaking. In Hollywood, the director is only good as his/her last movie. No movie industry executive will care…

Japan attacked the American navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941. In response, the United States declared war on Japan. Japan's Axis allies including Nazi Germany, declared war on the United States days after the attack, bringing the United States into World War II. The conflict was a bitter one. Both sides interred enemy aliens. Japanese resistance remained fierce. The Pacific War lasted until September 1, 1945, when Japan surrendered in response to the American atomic bombings…

Some will point to Japan’s history as evidence that Japan’s post-war cinema was too censored, Americanized, and propagandistic to provide any real insight into the impact of the atomic bombings on the attitude of Japanese society. Following Japan’s defeat in World War II, US General Douglas MacArthur was tasked with revising the country’s constitution and ending the Japanese Empire. To remove Japan’s perceived war-like tendencies, MacArthur launched an “enlightenment campaign,” in which American…