138 Rashomon

[manicsounds]

"Your husband has taken sick."

Is this sentence grammatically alright? Tajomaru says this to the woman before he takes her into the forest. I checked the DVD and it's the same, I guess I didn't notice it before, but I've only heard "He's gotten sick" "He's become sick" or "He's sick". Taken Sick?

[Brian C]

I've heard "taken ill" before, but I don't believe I've heard "taken sick".

[domino harvey]

Me either. A cursory Google research returns mostly instances from non-native English speakers

[Mr Sausage]

The OED lists among its examples for using 'take' to mean becoming injured or ill:

1890 J. Healy Insula Sanctorum 317 He took sick and died in the island.

So I'm guessing it's a rare but acceptable colloquialism (maybe even from a dialect). What it's doing in the Rashomon translation is another story.

[TMDaines]

It only works in the passive for my British English ears. "He's been taken sick" is absolutely fine, but "he's been taken ill" sounds better to me. "He's taken sick" sounds wrong.

Here's a summary: Was taken ill @ Word Reference

Maybe it would be an unusual expression in NA but I wouldn't blink at it.

[solaris72]

Finally, available in 3D.

[manicsounds]

I've read a review somewhere about those Taiwan 3D discs of old movies, and how it barely looked 3D.

[chatterjees]

This could be a wicked thinking, but does anybody else think that Agatha Christie's Five Little Pigs (published in 1942 in USA and 1943 in UK) could have been a big influence on Rashomon (1950)?

[Gregory]

"In a Grove" predated it by a couple decades.

[chatterjees]

Thanks for the information. I am glad to know that I am not the the only one to think about this. Is there any article, I would love to read about this analogy.

[Mr Sausage]

Thanks for the information. I am glad to know that I am not the the only one to think about this. Is there any article, I would love to read about this analogy.

Er, Gregory means that the short story Rashomon is adapting, Akutagawa's In a Grove, predates the work you think might've influenced the movie.

[chatterjees]

I totally misread Gregory's reply. I never read In a Grove, now I have to read it. Thanks for the clarification, Mr Sausage.

[Gregory]

Criterion was kind enough to include it in their booklet, along with the story "Rashomon." I see it's also available in a pdf download via a Google search.

Sorry if my reply could have been clearer.

[chatterjees]

Criterion was kind enough to include it in their booklet, along with the story "Rashomon." I see it's also available in a pdf download via a Google search.

Sorry if my reply could have been clearer.

You are fine, it's my fault. I was in a hurry and I read predicted instead of predated. Also, I didn't know the name of the original short story. I remember seeing it in a collection by Penguin Classics. But, never got a chance to read it. Thanks for reminding the inclusion of the story in the booklet, I was lazy enough not to read the booklet. I remember now seeing it in there. I just never got time to read it.

Last week I read Five Little Pigs and Yesterday, my wife and I were watching some of films from the new BDs of Poirot series (series 7/8/9) and Five Little Pigs was one of them. That's what generated my original post. Thanks again, I will definitely read the short story tonight.

[Stefan Andersson]

Interesting comment on the ending:
http://www.filmsufi.com/2014/01/rashomo ... -1950.html
(see last comment)

Spoilers



"Folks, you are still not getting it all. The Wikipedia article misses it too. The Wood Cutter says he saw AN AMULET on the ground, along some clothing items at the scene of the murder. He doesn't mention the knife because it is revealed towards the end that he stole it from the scene. So what became of the amulet? No one reviewing Rashomon seems to follow that train of thought. When the child is discovered wrapped in a KIMONO with AN AMULET, and the commoner goes to steal it, the Wood Cutter is enraged. He doesn't have much of a chance to examine the child, but still knows that is was wrapped in that fashion. After he is shamed, and the commoner leaves with the stolen goods, the Wood Cutter says he will take the child home, because since he has six already, it won't be that much of a burden. The last man, who has heard all the stories, says that act has restored his faith in human kind, and the film ends. But how did the child get wrapped up in the amulet and the kimono in the first place? Both are items that the Wood Cutter likely stole from the scene of the Rape & Murder. He then wrapped up his OWN seventh child in the items and set the bundled child out for someone else to adopt. When he is shamed and takes the child at the end, he is returning home with his own child, and getting praised to boot. THAT's the final irony."