Rashomon effect

The Rashomon effect is the phenomenon of the unreliability of eyewitnesses.
The effect is named after Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese film '' Rashomon'', in which a murder is described in four contradictory ways by four witnesses.
It has been used as a storytelling and writing method in cinema in which an event is given contradictory interpretations or descriptions by the individuals involved, thereby providing different perspectives and points of view of the same incident.

Discussion

The term addresses the motives, mechanism, and occurrences of the reporting on the circumstance and addresses contested interpretations of events, the existence of disagreements regarding the evidence of events, and subjectivity versus objectivity in human perception, memory, and reporting.

The Rashomon effect has been defined in a modern academic context as "the naming of an epistemological framework—or ways of thinking, knowing, and remembering—required for understanding complex and ambiguous situations".

The history of the term and its permutations in cinema, literature, legal studies, psychology, sociology, and history is the subject of a 2015 multi-author volume edited by Blair Davis, Robert Anderson and Jan Walls, titled ''Rashomon Effects: Kurosawa, Rashomon and their legacies''. See also the citation of individual chapters.

Valerie Alia termed the same effect "The Rashomon Principle" and has used this variant extensively since the late 1970s, first publishing it in an essay on the politics of journalism in 1982. She developed the term in a 1997 essay "The Rashomon Principle: The Journalist as Ethnographer" and in her 2004 book, ''Media Ethics and Social Change''.

A useful demonstration of this principle in scientific understanding can be found in Karl G. Heider's 1988 journal article on ethnography. Heider used the term to refer to the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it.

In the Queensland Supreme Court case of ''The Australian Institute for Progress Ltd v The Electoral Commission of Queensland & Ors (No 2)'', Applegarth J wrote that:

The Rashomon effect describes how parties describe an event in a different and contradictory manner, which reflects their subjective interpretation and self-interested advocacy, rather than an objective truth. The Rashomon effect is evident when the event is the outcome of litigation. One should not be surprised when both parties claim to have won the case.020QSC 174">.''

The vagaries of memories and how they depend on one's own identity and interests is also a theme of the unfinished 1963 Polish film ''Passenger'' (based on a 1959 radio play), in which an Auschwitz survivor and guard differently recall events in that Nazi concentration camp.

Works using the Rashomon effect

* 1950: '' Rashomon''
* 1954: '' Andha Naal'' – an Indian Tamil-language film with thematic similarities to ''Rashomon''.
* 1971: '' Four Times that night''.
* 1990: " A Matter of Perspective" – an episode of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' where Commander Riker is accused of murder and faces an extradition hearing where everyone's version of what transpired is re-created in the holodeck.
*1992: "P.O.V." – an episode of Batman: The Animated Series in which 3 police officers recount their version of events about an encounter with Batman
* 1997: ''An Instance of the Fingerpost'' – a mystery novel featuring contradicting narrators.
* 1998: " Bad Blood" – an episode of ''The X-Files'' featuring differing retellings of an investigation into vampire activity.
* 2004: '' Virumaandi'' – the film's narrative presents two competing legal narratives, drawing comparisons to the Rashomon effect.
* 2005: '' Hoodwinked!'' – an animated musical mystery comedy film, parodying the '' Little Red Riding Hood'' folktale.
* 2010: “ The Rashomon Job” — an episode of '' Leverage'' in which the characters recount a single theft they each believe themselves to have committed on the same night.
* 2013: " The Ashtray" – an episode of ''How I Met Your Mother'' that shows the same event from multiple characters' perspectives.
* 2014: '' Ulidavaru Kandanthe'' – an Indian Kannada-language film about five characters telling their different perspectives on a person's murder.
* 2015: '' Talvar'' – an Indian Hindi-language film based on the 2008 Noida double murder case.
* 2016: '' The Handmaiden'' – a South Korean picture adapted from Fingersmith by Sarah Waters.
* 2021: '' The Last Duel'' – 3 main characters narrating the rape of a knight's wife in three chapters.
* 2022: '' Parole (2022 film)'' – the film's narrative presents two competing brother rivalries, drawing comparisons to the Rashomon effect.
* 2022: '' Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie'' – an Indian Prime Video web series.
*2024: '' Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'' – a Netflix limited series about the Menendez brothers.
*2025: Win or Lose – a Pixar animated streaming series.

See also

* Unreliable narrator
* Blind men and an elephant
* Remakes of films by Akira Kurosawa includes explicit remakes of ''Rashomon''

References

{{reflist

Perception