Buddhism in the Following Films:

¶ … buddhism in the following films: "Rashomon" & "I (heart) Huckabees"

Buddhism in "Rashomon" & "I Heart Huckabees"

When relating to Buddhism, most Christian-fanatic westerners think about monks in robes performing inhumane exercises for no practical reason other than to look religious. Of course, one cannot simply call Christians ignorant just because they do not attempt to understand people from other religions. Rashomon, the 1950 creation of Akira Kurosawa, is a classic Japanese movie which also involves a series of cliches borrowed from the western world of movie making. While the movie's plot initially appears to have little to do with religion, it all becomes clearer to its end, when it is remarkable to observe how humans are capable of doing right, even with all the wrong that they had done. A much more recent motion picture, I Heart Huckabees recounts the lives of several people, and, how these people are being tortured by their own ideals.

Rashomon and I Heart Huckabees are not necessarily Buddhism-related movies, as their plots can be appreciated for the fact that they are intriguing, and not just for the Buddhist metaphors involved in the films. Both movies present society and how people have gradually abandoned religion and morality in favor of a material life.

In Rashomon, all the characters are interconnected, as the samurai's death unites them all because of several reasons. The priest acts as a detective, and, the wife, the woodcutter, the thief, and the medium, act as witnesses and potential suspects. The movie's main purpose is to determine what happened to the dead samurai, and, while all of the characters tell their own separate story of the happening, reality remains a mystery. As it is proved all across the movie, it is difficult for truth to be revealed, as long as people only think about their well-being. Most of the characters involved in the movie believe that there is no need for them to come forward with the truth, since this would affect their personal lives, and, they would get nothing else but honor out of the exploit. The bottom line is that honor and the modern world have little to do with each other, with human values having changed with time, to the point where people are only interested in looking after themselves.

Buddhism does not automatically put pressure on one to dedicate their body and minds to other people, as it actually demonstrates that both body and mind are different from how society perceives them. The samurai's wife and the bandit consider that the samurai had already perished, and, that their actions would have no effect on the present, since nothing could be done to ameliorate matters. Thus, they think that their lies would not harm the general situation, as they would get out of it honorably.

The movie steps away from Buddhist concepts at certain points. For example the priest expresses his bewilderment when learning of the crime that had just been performed. Considering that Buddhist reality involves people not falling victims to material emotions, the priest should not be surprised to find out something that is rather common in the human society.

The priest tends to deny reality by claiming that he wants to believe that everyone is telling the truth, as he does not want to accept the fact that humans are imperfect. The woodcutter does not realize the gravity of his actions in the beginning, as he believes that it is more important for him to hide the dagger than it is for him to confess what he had seen. Thus, his crime is much greater than stealing, as he prevents the priest from discovering how the crime had occurred.

In I Heart Huckabees, Bernard continuously tries to make the other characters understand that they should not fall victims to the material world. He instructs people that everything is possible through belief, and, that their life is nothing as they had previously perceived it. The claim that "the universe is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere" (Bernard, I Heart Huckabees) is a clear reference to Buddhism, with the religion's followers believing that nothing is as society sees it, and, that everything has shape and color because people want it to. Also, they believe that everything in the universe is connected, even with the fact that people are accustomed to differentiating.

Bernard continues to promote Buddhist theories by describing how every person is the same and differences in language, skin color, and backgrounds are not to be considered actual dissimilarities, as they are just the outer shell of the spirit. People are generally limited by themselves, with them being unable to attain a higher state of mind because of their restraints. According to Bernard, if people were to continue to live as they had been accustomed to, they would never reach enlightenment. Thus, individuals miss out on the most important matters in life because they are busy performing superficial tasks.

While the director of Rashomon did not initially want his movie to incorporate Buddhist concepts, the storyline gradually became full of matters relating to the religion. Perhaps it had been because of the fact that Buddhism is one of the main religions in Japan that the movie has Buddhist influences. Clinging themselves to their material world, the people in Rashomon fail from observing that it is more important for them to accept truth as it is. Thus, they resort to various schemes in order to protect their image in society. Kindness is vital in Buddhism, and, little of the characters playing in Rashomon understand this theory.

Similar to how Bernard struggles to have Albert and Tommy understand that the whole world is connected, and, that all people are one, the central theme of Rashomon is to have individuals understand that they should all praise each-other, because they are all part of the same spirit. Ultimately, enlightenment virtually means for one to realize that love is the only thing which can bring happiness, and, that he or she needs to feel affection for every person on earth. Once learning that they are at one with nature and that they love other persons just as they love themselves, people will achieve enlightenment. Whether the woodcutter decides to step in by telling the truth because he hates lies, or, whether he does this out of respect for humankind, it is not certain. What is certain is that he performs an act that directly incriminates him as the one that had stolen the dagger. He does not appear to care that his confession would hurt him.