Professor Paul Anderer launches his new book "Kurosawa's Rashomon" in Beijing

With the launching of his new book Kurosawa's Rashomon simplified Chinese edition in China, on June 11 and 12, Paul Anderer, Mack Professor of Humanities and Professor of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, shared his latest work with the audience in Beijing. 

The events were held on June 11 at Kubrick and on the evening of June 12 at the Columbia Global Centers | Beijing. Kurosawa's Rashomon is a sensitive investigation of Kurosawa's life, film, and war-ridden Japan. Professor Anderer focused on forces that shaped Kurosawa's art and provided us with an entangling portrait of the director.

During the event at the Beijing Center, Professor Anderer addressed his motivation and consideration in writing this book. Mapping the details in Kurosawa’s autobiography Gama No Abura (English edition titled Something Like an Autobiography), he dug into the relations between Kurosawa’s early family life, his relationship with his brother, and the trauma and impact of personal and social tragedy in Japan, all of which left a mark in Kurosawa’s black-and-white films, expressing emotions and statements that couldn’t be conveyed with words.

Although in a period setting, Rashomon is a movie about daily life and human experiences just like Kurosawa’s other films of contemporary settings, forcing the audience to reflect on their own life and choices. Like that in his book, Professor Anderer’s speech ended with a note on the final scene of Rashomon, whereas the woodcutter walked towards the camera with a baby in his arm. Professor Anderer considers the final shot a challenge to the audience, as the woodcutter almost hitting the camera as he disappeared from the shot.

The speech was followed up with a Q&A session, during which Professor Anderer further explored his interpretation of Kurosawa’s other films in relation to his life. More than 60 people joined as the audience, and more than 76,000 people watched the event online.