Mis-en-scene in Rashomon

I chose the film Rashomon to write on its use of mis-en-scène. The first shot that I would like to write about is this scene at 4:20.

This building they are in, Rashomon, is introduced immediately and we come back to it throughout the film, so it is very important. The setting is this old, falling apart, wooden building or temple in the rain. The rain is important because it adds to the dreary mood (the rain is actually dyed black) and it is also the situation that is forcing these characters together because they are taking shelter from it. The state of the building, clearly falling apart, the commoner even ripping wood off the walls to feed their fire at one point, adds to this darker mood. The dyed rain makes for a small stylized effect, but the rest of the setting is less stylized. The commoner’s pants are ripped, the priest has old-looking robes, and the other man does not have the best clothing either. This insinuates that none of them are very wealthy, and some of them are pretty bad off. This shot has softer lighting, but it is not the softest. I also think it can be harder to tell in black and white films. Shadows of characters and the building are clearly visible. For the two characters sitting, this is frontal lighting, which ends up lighting the commoner from behind (also making his shadow very clear) before he sits down with them. The lighting looks more natural. The performances are relatively realistic, with only the priest possibly exaggerating a bit with his horrible musings about what it all means. The actors are all coming pretty close together, creating a relationship that they are in to hear this story out and think about it altogether. This shot employs more deep space, as everything in the background is also in focus. I believe this may be to emphasize the depth of the different stories we are about to hear, it is not simple and they are reinforcing that. 

The next scene I chose was this shot at 31:15.

When I first saw this scene, it greatly intrigued me because of the shot that is cut in with this, of the sun through the trees overhead, originally whirling and then still. I will write about that shot as well as the one I have shown here since they go together. The lighting in this shot is hard and low-key, as we can very clearly see the deep shadows across the woman’s face. The woman’s eyes are clearly looking above, so when we see the intercut shot of the sun through the trees, it is implied that it is from her perspective, looking up. The bandit is clearly forcing himself upon her, and in the sun through the trees short, it is whirling around, the camera spinning, perhaps showing her disorientation. In this shot, we can see her looking up as her looking away and dissociating, further supported by the final sun/trees shot where it just appears to move in and out of focus. She doesn’t want to think about what is happening, her personal space being invaded, her body being violated, so she looks away and tries her best to distract herself. 

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