8.1
In medieval Japan, a woman and her children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years before.
Kinuyo Tanaka
Tamaki
Yoshiaki Hanayagi
Zushiô
Kyōko Kagawa
Anju
Eitarō Shindō
Sanshô dayû
Ichirō Sugai
Minister of Justice
Bontarō Miake
Kichiji
Yōko Kozono
Kohagi
Chieko Naniwa
Ubatake
Kikue Mōri
Priestess
Ken Mitsuda
Prime Minister Fujiwara
Masao Shimizu
Masauji Taira
Ryōsuke Kagawa
Ritsushi Kumotake
Akitake Kōno
Taro
Kanji Koshiba
Kaikudo Naito
Shinobu Araki
Sadaya
Masahiko Tsugawa
Young Zushiō
Keiko Enami
Young Anju
Teruko Omi
Nakagimi
Kimiko Tachibana
Namiji
Reiko Kongō
Shiono
Shōzō Nanbu
Masasue Taira
Ryōnosuke Azuma
Landlord
Kazukimi Okuni
Norimura
Saburo Date
Kimpei
Sumao Ishihara
Yakko
Ichirō Amano
Midori Komatsu
Harbour's Lady
Yukio Horikita
Jiro
Jun Fujikawa
Kanamaru
Sōji Shibata
Sado Man
Akira Shimizu
Slave Trader
Tokio Oki
Harbour's Man
Akira Shiga
Farmer #2
Goro Nakanishi
Hachiro Okuni
Saburo Miyazaki
Akiyoshi Kikuno
Director
Kenji Mizoguchi
Original Story
Mori Ogai
Screenplay
Yoshikata Yoda
Screenplay
Fuji Yahiro
January 4, 2023
7
When a benign provincial governor tries to intervene to protect his people from the brutality of the military, he is stripped of his rank and banished. His wife and children are forced to follow him, on foot, some time later and hopelessly ill-equipped for that task they fall prey to people traffickers who split the family up. The young daughter and son soon find themselves bought by the eponymous character and forced into cruel manual labour that only his son "Taro" (Akitake Kôno) seems at all concerned about. Can he help? Can they manage to keep some semblance of their erstwhile decency and nobility in the face of such indifference and oppression? Will the family ever reconcile? This is a glorious film to look at. The photography is dark, gloomy and hugely effective at eliciting a feeling of sorrow for the children as they struggle to survive in their new lives. There are glimmers of optimism, but Kenji Mizoguchi manages our expectations well. There is no yellow brick road here, the sunlit uplands are definitely there but we have no idea when (or if) one or other or neither of the children may ever reach them. The acting is poised and characterful - especially the young "Anju" (Kyôko Kagawa) who tries to look out for her initially weak and vulnerable younger brother "Zushio" (Yoshiaki Hanayagi). It is beautifully scored with a mixture of Japanese and classical themes that compliment well the contrasting images of poverty, wealth, cruelty and kindness of this story of barbarity and revenge. The cinematography does benefit from a big screen - it makes the story and the imagery all the more impactful, but even on a television this is is two hours that truly keeps you gripped.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
Japanese
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00