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Sansho the Bailiff - Criterion Collection
List Price: $39.95Our Price: $35.99 You Save: $3.96 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515023627
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 100
Label: Criterion Collection
Languages: Japanese (Original Language), English (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
MPN: CC1692DDVD
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 22, 2007
Running Time: 124 minutes
Studio: Criterion Collection
Theatrical Release Date: 1955
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Editorial Review:
On certain days, and in certain moods, it would be easy enough to declare that Kenji Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff is the greatest movie ever made. No disrespect intended to Citizen Kane or The Rules of the Game or North by Northwest, for on certain other days those movies might be Numero Uno. But Mizoguchi's magnificent 1954 film is in the running. The story is a kind of emotional epic, although it's quite simple in its outline: a family in medieval Japan is brutally broken up, the mother (Kinuyo Tanaka) carried off into prostitution and two children sold into slavery. When the children, Zushio (Yoshiaki Hanayagi) and Anju (Kyoko Kagawa), are grown, their bondage to the pitiless slaveowner Sansho will end, but in different ways.
The arc of this story is beautiful in itself, but Mizoguchi's telling of the tale is extraordinary. His moving camera seems weightless, and he effortlessly reminds us of how we've returned to certain key images that chart the progress of the characters: the breaking of a tree branch, the way water can swallow up a life, a song that ties together different lives and different places. As for the final sequence, it achieves a rare power, a mix of emotional tones reminiscent of the end of The Searchers. Mizoguchi made Sansho (Sansho Dayu in its original title) after having made The Life of Oharu and Ugetsu in the previous two years--surely one of the great creative bursts for any filmmaker. Yes, lavish praise can sometimes be dangerous, but now that we've got your attention, Sansho will make its own eloquent case. --Robert Horton
On the DVD
The Criterion Collection has a beautiful print of Sansho the Bailiff and a few illuminating extras. Most valuable are the new interviews with three people who knew Mizoguchi: a critic, an assistant director, and actress Kyoko Kagawa; all emphasize Mizoguchi as a director obsessed with the acting (and a taskmaster in the William Wyler-Stanley Kubrick mode), and suggest that his soaring use of long takes was designed to serve the performances. A booklet gives two versions of the original story source, plus a thoughtful essay by Mark Le Fanu. The commentary by Japanese-literature professor Jeffrey Angles puts its emphasis on cultural background rather than film criticism. --Robert Horton
When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave drivers. Under Kenji Mizoguchis dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinemas greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Lost and Found
I have been ordering movies from Amazon for the last two years, and I have been satisfied with every purchase, thank you Amazon.com!
So, I bought both Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff within two orders. Ugetsu came in first and I loved it! I thought it was quite an excellent film on my first viewing. I liked it so much, when I finally received Sansho the Bailiff in the mail, I couldn't wait to pop it in my DVD player! Once the movie started, I was addicted... What an amazing film I thought ... Read More
Rating: - Brilliant
One of the nostra about Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi is that
he is 'the most Japanese of all filmmakers.' Another is that, compared
to his two titanic contemporaries, Yasujiro Ozu and Akira Kurosawa,
Mizoguchi was the hardest to pin down in a style or genre. Having just
watched his 1954 film Sansho The Bailiff (Sanshô Dayû) I can agree with
both of the above sentiments, for Mizoguchi excels at the jidai-geki
(historical drama) genre. Furthermore, I can ... Read More
Rating:  - Sad but true
This is a sad story, and it made me greatfull for all that I have today in my life. The movie is well directed and the actors did a good job for a black and white movie.
But I don't know if I will watch it again... it's in my collection anyway.
Rating: - You cannot compare us to peasants!
What an utterly spectacular movie. It's billing as the greatest movie ever made is completely fitting. The fact that Mizoguchi directed the beautiful Ugetsu the previous year is a phenomenal achievement. Unequaled really, throughout the history of film. Bold statement, to be sure, but one I firmly believe.
After a compassionate governor disobeys the tyrannical lord's orders, he is cast into exile. His family suffers horribly--his wife is physically forced into a life of prostitution; the ... Read More
Rating: - Fantastic Acting, Fantastic Cinematography, Fantastic Message!
Director Kenji Mizoguchi once dropped his shirt and exposed his back to a colleague. There were two scars that were the result of razor slashes. He got it from a prostitute he was seeing. Mizoguchi said, "you see these? Until you get them, you are not allowed to make any movies about women."
Mizoguchi combines his lifelong focus on the theme of women's plight, with fantastic photography and top-shelf acting in this dazzling film of sheer cinematic craft.
Not a single frame is ... Read More
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