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Film Criticism Essay

Indigenous knowledge encompasses social, cultural and political aspects of a given locality and its study has challenged the west’s structured form of acquiring knowledge and with the world heading towards globalization, academic reform that advocates indigenous knowledge is fundamental to achieve a better understanding of both physical and social sciences in culturally diverse environment. The portrayal of indigenous culture in cinema is an impetus for social change as cinema has turned into a phenomenon that has the power to cross borders and reaches out to various communities.
The two films that will be discussed in this essay are Rashomon and Smoke Signals. Rashomon is a film by Akira Kurosawa made in 1950. Set in 12th century Japan, the main theme of the movie is the investigation of the subjectivity of truth (Jardine and Livant, 2008). The chain of events leading up to the murder of the samurai is conveyed differently by four sources, his wife, the bandit, the dead man himself through a medium and the wood-cutter, each story no more credible than the other. In terms of aesthetic value, the samurai and his wife were presented in traditional Japanese outfits. The samurai sword is the main piece that holds the representation of a traditional Japanese male, one that upholds the ancient values of samurai honour, which is to live and die by the sword. The samurai code of conduct comes to debate when the wife of the samurai questions the manhood of her husband and the bandit in one out of the four narrations. She claims that men are the ones who are mentally weak and they are quick to choose the easiest path, rather than fight and claim rightful ownership of the female. This particular scene of the film caused a stir across various traditional groups in Japan, claiming that the film has falsely portrayed Japanese women, as Japanese women are taught to be docile and subservient. Ironically however, the film featured a female shaman, who served as the mediator of...