The document discusses differing views on truth and perception as depicted in the film Rashomon. Rashomon tells the story of a murder and rape through the conflicting accounts of four witnesses. Roger Ebert believes truth is subjective and based on individual perception. In contrast, Errol Morris sees truth as objective. As in the film, there is debate around whether varying accounts means there are multiple truths, or if only one objective truth exists. The document also discusses how truth relates to facts and how determining the absolute truth in complex situations like Rashomon may not be possible.

1. Sherrie Adduci
Senior Seminar p.4
September 21, 2010
Truth versus fact: In Rashomon how do they compare?
The film Rashomon, set in12thcenturyJapan depicts the four different points
of views concerningthe murder of a samurai and the rape of his wife by a notorious
bandit, Tajomaru. Shortlyafter, Tajomaru is capturedand put on trial, except his story
and the wife's storyare so drasticallydifferent that a psychic is brought in to have the
murderedman give his own testimony, but his too is far different from the others.
Lastly, a woodcutter who found the body of the samurai reveals what he saw and yet
again, his versionis diverse from all the others. Accordingto Roger Ebert, truth is
suggestive. The truth can depend on the person, like perception. It is Ebert’s belief
that the perceptionof apersonis true to their beliefs, therefore truthis relative. Unlike
Ebert, Morris is an absolutist. This means that his belief is that there’s just one whole
truth. People canhave different perceptions, but that doesn’t make their perceptions
accurate. This is similar to Plato because of the belief of just one reality. Morris
believes it is inaccurate for someone to claim somethingto be true just because of
their point of view. Therefore, in the movie Rashomon, Morris feels that just because
the people have different perceptions doesn’t meanthat there are multiple truths.
Most may agree with Roger Ebert’s view of truth. This and perception relatesto the
film, Rashomon, because althoughtruthis a strict being, it is very complexand can
have many different aspects, thereforedifferent peoplemayhave different truths to a
situation.

2. According to Ebert, truth is suggestive and the truth can depend on the person,
thereforesimilar to perception. Perceptionis away of regarding, understanding, or
interpretingsomething;a mental impression, it is how organisms see the world
around them. In Rashomon everycharacter has their own insight, they have their own
version of what happened and who are viewers to say if it’s true or not since they do
not know themselves?The trust varies from the different perceptions. Ebert expresses
that the movie’s truthis that it depicts the point of views of eachcharacter but this can
be false because Ebert says “human beings are unable to be honest with themselves
about themselves.”So, how does one figure out the whole truth? Maybe the whole
truth doesn’t exist. It is possible, and probable that truth has many folds and layers.
Furthermore, Ebert’s belief that truthis suggestive is less opinionatedthan Morris’
due to its leniencytowards perception. Truth may be suggestive, but this can be hasty
because in the end, the situationdid occur inone way, but no one may ever know the
fact behind it, furthermore the commonbeliefthat truthis based onfact versus fiction
is flawed.
Although one may agree with Ebert’s belief that truth can be suggestive, this
does not condone truth or fact to relysolelyonperception. For example, if three
people witness a bank robbery, and one of the witnesses claims the robber to have
black hair, and the other two witnesses claim them to have dark brown hair, this does
not mean that all three witnesses are correctjust because their perceptions vary. So,
what is fact, and how is it determined?Is it merelya piece of information usedas
evidence? If it is, then what is truth? Similarly, truth is oftendepictedto be parallel to
fact, but truthisn’t just an apparatus to prove something. Truth can alter a person’s

3. culture, beliefs andtraditions. Truth is what forms one’s personality;it is far more
personal than a simple ‘fact’ because it does have many aspects to it. This is why
many will relate more to Ebert’s point of view on truth. In Rashomon everycharacter
has their own insight, they have their own versionof what happened and who are we
to say if it’s true or not since we do not know?
Ebert expresses that the movie’s truth is that it depicts the point of views of
each character. Ebert’s belief that truthis suggestive relates to the plot and theme of
Rashomon inmany ways. There are four characters in Rashomon, and although many
would suppose that when it comes down to figuring out who is to blame for the death
of the samurai, four people would bound to have similar stories, or at least a couple of
the people. This is not the case in Rashomon. All four people have different stories;
thereforethe viewer of the film must use their own perceptionto figure out what they
believe reallyhappened. This can be very controversial. In the end, truth is not
analogous to fact. Much like Ebert’s beliefs, one shouldalso believe that truth in itself
is extensive and intricate.
According to Ebert, truth is relative and his view on Rashomonis that each
person’s perceptiononwhat happens can be classifiedas true, because it is what he or
she believes and sees to be the truth. Divergently, Errol Morris’beliefis that
Rashomon is not a film regarding the subjectivity of truth; there is no objective truth,
just subjective truth. Morris believes truthexists, but that people possess avested
interest innot knowing it. It is more likelythat one will agree with Ebert because
they, as humans, oftendeem that truth differs from personto person. In Rashomon,
who are viewers to say which characters are lying and which are being honest?A

4. personmust form their own perspective onthis, and take each character’s perception
into considerationbefore determining, if at all, the truth.