Yori Lotman explains that everything in film has meaning. Based upon the viewer's life experiences and predisposition, he or she derives meaning out of a film. This description brings to mind the varied messages that my girlfriend and I take away from movies we have viewed together. For example, in the movie Ironman, I saw it is a vilification in several scenes of Muslims and the glorification of the military industrial complex. Her interpretation of the same movie was that it was a thrill ride and the special effects were admirable. I have a strong interest in geopolitics which has been a powerful influence and how I analyze a movie. As Lotman describes, we have both "skimmed off" the various layers of meaning based upon having "various degrees of preparation".
The analysis of Roshomon, and more generally post-modernity, brings to mind the metaphysical belief systems of Hinduism and Buddhism. As human beings, we are limited by our perception and five senses from grasping the true nature of reality. As in Roshmon, the viewer is left questioning what is real and what is not. Although the west has began fully exploring this concept in recent times, these ideas have been flourishing in the east for thousands of years, from a time that could almost be called pre-religion. We may see our own lives as a linear montage but the ancients would argue that linear time and events from our past are mere illusions.
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