The Rashmon Effect 'An Incident of the Fingerpost' by Ian Pears 1997 pp700
(fiction) on 9 May 2024 at 19:30 at Simon's
(1a) Theme: The Rashomon effect The Rashomon effect is a storytelling method in
which an event is given contradictory (typically conflicting) interpretations or
descriptions by the individuals involved, thereby providing different perspectives and
points of view of the same incident. The term, derived from the 1950 Japanese film
Rashomon, is used to describe the phenomenon of the unreliability of eyewitnesses. I
want to use this as a springboard to discuss the unscientific, malleable nature of human
memory, particularly under stress. Are our memories ever truly reliable ? (1b) Anchors:
A: Movie - Rashomon ( 1950, Kurosawa ) - unsurprisingly - a groundbreaking tale of
deliberately or indeliberately contradictory recollections of an awful incident. B: Book
- An Instance of the Fingerpost ( Ian Pears, 1997) A well-received historical mystery
novel which i do not believe we have yet covered - i shudder to reveal that it is over
600 pages.. C: Movie: Monster ( Japan 2024) - Does this actually illustrate the Rashomon
effect at all ? Are the various retellings of the tale actually contradictory, or merely
illustrative of our tendency not to wish to see beneath the surface until we are forced
to?