Ebert Review Rashomon

In Ebert’s review of Rashomon, I was able to see my thoughts cohesively through his descriptions. It was initially difficult to describe my reaction to the film; because it was so vastly different than movies I would normally see which seems to be a trend in this class. Ebert focuses on the significance of flashbacks in the film and how they portray different perspectives on the events that occurred. We see in modern day movies flashbacks frequently to further help the audiences understanding of the characters or to add complexity to the story line. I personally found that the perspectives in the movie reflected how the characters wanted to see themselves in the story, using their own personally agendas in their versions. I liked that Ebert pointed out a very obvious but significant concept of the film: That sometimes we aren’t given a story with a neat, clean ending. The film ended with the audience still questioning what had happened because each version is created with bias that hinders its credibility. We expect to not be lied to, to have everything end precisely how we would expect but this movie changes your expectations while also creating a sense of hope at the end.