Title: Sansho the Bailiff
Release Date: March 31, 1954
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Production Company: Daiei Film
Summary/Review:
In the 11th-century, a virtuous governor is banished by the feudal lord because he has been too kind and generous to the ordinary people. His wife Tamaki (Kinuyo Tanaka) and children, Zushiō and Anju, are sent to live with her brother, but along the journey they are captured. Tamaki is sold into prostitution while the children are sent to a manorial estate where they work as slaves under the brutal Sanshō (Eitarō Shindō).
A decade passes and Anju (Kyōko Kagawa) and Zushiō (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) plot their escape. What follows is a grim and tragic story of suffering, suicide, revenge, loss, and grief. The film is punctuated just often enough by moments of humanity that keep one from falling into despair. But this is a definitely a movie that is an indictment of humankind.
Rating: ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 