Rashomon and Walter Benjamin

Walter Benjamin's description of reproduction posed some great points. The idea that reproduction, because it inevitably strays from the original in some way, is less meaningful. He says that reproductions like photographs or films are just a way for the audience to try and get closer to the art, or the art's imitation. I think that the ability to own a film or to buy a print of a famous painting makes art mean something much more than if you'd seen a Picasso painting in a New York museum once. I understand that the original piece is charged with genuine emotion because it is the actual product of the artist, but to be able to enjoy the essence of that art whenever you'd like makes the art more important, i think.

Benjamin explains that film depends on more than just one image, the original image. The single shots in film depend on the shots before it, and later are affected by the shots after it. In Rashomon, the story also takes this approach, by building the story based on how one situation affects the reality of the last or the one to follow. Each time a new scenario for the crime was shown, I already had preconceived notions about what could happen because I had experience with similar scenarios before.