Sansho the Bailiff

Sansho the Bailiff is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, adapted from a story by Ōgai Mori that derives in turn from a medieval oral tale. It is set in the late Heian period. A provincial governor is exiled for protecting the peasants under him; his wife and two children are seized by traffickers on the road to join him, the mother sold to Sado and the children, Anju and Zushiō, sold into forced labour under the bailiff Sansho. Anju drowns herself to cover her brother's escape. Zushiō later becomes governor of Tango, abolishes slavery in the province, resigns his post to search for his mother, and finds her blind on the shore at Sado. The film works largely in long takes and distant framings, keeping its scenes of suffering away from close-up. It received the Silver Lion at Venice.

Mainland China

山椒大夫

Hong Kong

山椒大夫

Taiwan

山椒大夫

English

Sansho the Bailiff

Original

山椒大夫