Position Paper: Kurosawa and Cop-Drama Films September 18, 2009
Posted by Emmanuel Elpenord in : Uncategorized , trackbackKurosawa and Cop-Drama Films:
Tentatively articulated, the elevator story for my thesis topic is, “I am studying the cinematography and “screen presence” in contemporary cop-drama films and Akira Kurosawa Samurai films because I want to find out what shooting techniques and acting choices are used in the two genres in order to analyze how morality is represented cinematically in the two genres and across time.”
The particular target of my research has altered and shifted after a sit-down with my advisor, Dr. Irina Patkanian. I was looking to focus solely on the screen image of the film in terms of composition and framing, but was enlightened to the idea of the subject on the screen—bringing my interest in acting into the fold. The discussion traveled into the realm of not only how and why a shot is composed the way it is, but how and why a particular actor is cast in a role, how the facial structure and physical build of an actor relates to how he is perceived on screen, good or evil, truthful or deceitful. Overall, I will argue that the way morality as stated above is represented cinematically through composition and framing, and casting and acting choices has changed over time.
Towards the end of our discussion, I received some “food for thought”—a banquet is more like it. Paraphrasing, in the times of Dostoyevsky, it was said that literature should be the new religion and writers their practitioners, as writers are gifted with vivid storytelling abilities and can craft narratives far more evocative than that of the clergy. They write of life and death, love and hatred, morality and immorality to the point that they should be instructing mankind how to live their lives. Furthermore, in our generation, very few people actually read the bible or turn to religious texts for moral guidance. Instead, films, television, and broadcast media are where the youth learn their morals. This point, whether I know it or not, may be the anchoring point of my primal interest in this topic and will always be in the back of my head during my research.
Sources:
Kurosawa, Akira, dir. Rashomon. Perfs. Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori. Daiei, 1950.
Kurosawa, Akira. “Rashomon.” Rashomon. Richie, Donald ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, c1987. P.33-96.
PN1997.R244 R37 1987
Richie, Donald. “Rashomon.” The films of Akira Kurosawa. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1996. P.70-80.
PN1998 .3 .K87 R5 1996
The first listing is a Kurosawa samurai film and a primary source, the second is the continuity script of the film, also a primary source, and the third listing is a secondary source that discusses the film from several different perspectives. The first and second listing work beautifully with each other because the continuity script organizes the film and written dialogue by shot and shot number. Each shot number comes with a description of each shot and it’s framing. Sources like this will make my life much easier when it comes time to reference shots from films and the subsequent specificities that entails. The third listing will prove to be and invaluable source as it has a detailed breakdown and analysis of Kurosawa’s entire film catalogue (from what it seems). It covers over 25 titles.
The film is based two short stories by Akutagawa: “Rashomon” and “In a Grove.” The film’s plot, simplified, is a story within a story. The outer story is of three men, a woodcutter, a priest, and a commoner that joins the former two under the gate of a destroyed temple to get out of a heavy rainstorm. The priest and woodcutter are in much grief and lamentation, and when the commoner inquires why, the two continue to explain the inner story of a rape and murder that occurs in the woods and the police investigation that follows. Testimony from the woodcutter and priest are heard, as well as from the police agent, who catches the bandit that raped the wife and killed the husband. The bandit also submits testimony, as do the wife and the husband, now dead, through a medium. This makes for seven different, and ultimately conflicting, versions of one story.
As for Richie’s analysis of Rashomon what stuck out for me is what related to my thesis topic, “how morality is cinematically represented.” Richie breaks down the testimony of each of the characters and lays out why and in what way they are lying or telling the truth, as well as the truthfulness of the priest and woodcutter in their retelling of the proceedings to the commoner in the outer story.
Goodwin, James. “The Wipe Cut.” Akira Kurosawa and intertextual cinema. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, c1994. P. 141-147.
PN1998.3.K87 G66 1994
This short chapter in this book was about a camera technique, the “wipe cut,” that Kurosawa is known for using regularly, and where he may’ve discovered the technique and why and how he chose to use it. It makes it known that it is in Roshomon that he first uses this technique.
Aside from the thorough explanation of terminology and techniques, and providing a few film titles to look at in terms of the history of the wipe cut, this source also put it into my head how to focus on something specific for my thesis. Perhaps devoting a thesis paper to one camera move wouldn’t work, but it in a similar way finding one connecting aspect of all of the thought bubbles of acting, cinematography, samurai film, cop-drama films, et cetera will propel this paper to where it needs to be.
