Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu)
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Written by Fuji Yahiro and Yoshikata Yoda from a short story by Ogai Mori
1954/Japan
Daiei Studios
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#290 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Masauji Taira: [Speaking to his son Zushio on the verge of being exiled and separated from his family] Zushio, I wonder if you’ll become a stubborn man like me. You may be too young to understand, but hear me out anyway. Without mercy, man is like a beast. Even if you are hard on yourself, be merciful to others. Men are created equal. Everyone is entitled to their happiness.[/box]

Mizoguchi’s tale of misery and mercy is truly a classic.

In medieval Japan, a Governor who sides with the peasants against a tax collector is sent into exile.  Before he goes, he impresses the virtue of mercy on his young son Zushio.  He gives the boy a small statue of the Goddess of Mercy as a reminder.

His wife Tamaki (Kinuyo Tanaka) and two children try to follow.  They are making the journey on foot with a single servant.  The way is rife with bandits and slave traders.  One night, they cannot find a lodging and camp in the woods.  A woman who says she is a priestess offers them warm food and leads them to a boat that will supposedly take them out of harm’s way.  They are pounced on by traffickers.  Tamaki is taken onto one boat and the two children and servant set out in another.

The children end up being purchased by the cruel Sansho, a petty official.  They disguise their identity. Sansho works his slaves mercilessly and brutally punishes any who try to escape.  Ten years pass.  Zoshiro looks to be working his way into Sansho’s favor with his willingness to punish escapees himself.  His sister Anju is appalled.

Then Anju hears a new slave singing a sad song mourning Zoshiro and Anju and thinks she has worked out where their mother is located.  When Zoshiro is ordered to take their old servant up into the mountains to die, Anju thinks she sees an escape route.

I remember this movie as being almost unbearably cruel and sad.  Somehow I didn’t remember that mercy is the theme that runs throughout.  It is not often in evidence but triumphs in the end.  I liked the film far more this time that on previous viewings.  I always appreciated the stunning imagery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D27qcOtZ7Rg

Clip – a lesson on mercy