Sansho the Bailiff

Set in medieval Japan, the film follows a provincial governor who is exiled after siding with the peasants against a powerful military official. Years later, his wife Tamaki and their children Anju and Zushio set out to find him, but are captured and separated. Tamaki is sent to an island, while the children are sold into slavery under the pitiless steward Sansho. As the years pass, Zushio, embittered by hardship, loses sight of his father's ideals, until Anju urges him not to become like their captor. When Anju learns their mother may still be alive, she pushes her brother toward escape.

Kenji Mizoguchi directed this 1954 drama for Daiei Film, working from a screenplay by Yoshikata Yoda and Fuji Yahiro, with Masaichi Nagata producing. It followed a run of major works by Mizoguchi, among them The Life of Oharu in 1952 and Ugetsu in 1953, and preceded Chikamatsu Monogatari the same year. Kinuyo Tanaka plays Tamaki, with Yoshiaki Hanayagi as Zushio, Kyoko Kagawa as Anju and Eitaro Shindo as Sansho. The credited cast numbers thirty-four.

The ratings point to an unusually strong and durable reputation. On IMDb it holds 8.3 from around 20,000 votes, and on TMDB 8.1 from 443 votes, both high figures that indicate lasting approval across very different audience sizes. Critics are more enthusiastic still: the critics' rating of 9.4 from 20 reviews places it clearly above even the already high audience scores, suggesting that reviewers regard it as one of the director's most accomplished works.