Sansho the Bailiff
VHS cover
Directed by	Kenji Mizoguchi
Produced by	Masaichi Nagata
Written by	Ogai Mori (story) Fuji Yahiro Yoshikata Yoda
Starring	Kinuyo Tanaka Yoshiaki Hanayagi Kyôko Kagawa Eitarô Shindô
Cinematography	Kazuo Miyagawa
Release date(s)	March 31, 1954 (Japan)
Running time	120 min.
Language	Japanese
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Sansho the Bailiff (山椒大夫 Sanshō Dayū) is a 1954 film by Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi. It is one of the latest films Mizoguchi made; he directed only five films more before his death in 1956. Alongside Ugetsu and The Life of Oharu it is often considered as his finest, the crowning achievement of his career. Image File history File links Sansho_the_Bailiff_VHS_cover. ... Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二 Mizoguchi Kenji; May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. ... Mori Ogais statue at his birthhouse in Tsuwano-cho Mori Ogai (森 鴎外 Mori Ōgai, February 17, 1862 - July 9, 1922) was a Japanese physician, novelist and poet. ... Kinuyo Tanaka (田中絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 28 November 1910 - 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director. ... Kyôko Kagawa (born 5 December 1931) is a Japanese actress who has appeared in leading and supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawas The Lower Depths and Madadayo, Yasujiro Ozus Tokyo Story, and Ishirô Hondas Mothra. ... Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川 一夫 February 25, 1908 - August 7, 1999) is generally recognized as having been one of the finest Japanese cinematographers. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二 Mizoguchi Kenji; May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ugetsu, aka Ugetsu Monogatari (雨月物語), is a 1953 film by acclaimed Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi. ... The Life of Oharu (西鶴一代女 Saikaku Ichidai Onna) is a 1952 film by director Kenji Mizoguchi starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō (and mother of a later daimyō) who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold...

Sanshô is one of Mizoguchi's jidai-geki films taking place in feudal Japan and does bear the Mizoguchian trademarks that explore the basic ideas of freedom, poverty and woman's place in society through powerful imagery and long and complicated shots (the director of photography for this film is the Mizoguchi regular Kazuo Miyagawa) and top-notch performances by the cast. Mizoguchi was regarded as a true perfectionist, and this film is also a showcase of his controlling and demanding vision and his films' formal beauty. Jidaigeki (時代劇) is a genre of film and television or theater play in Japan. ... Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川 一夫 February 25, 1908 - August 7, 1999) is generally recognized as having been one of the finest Japanese cinematographers. ...

In the end of this film there is also one of the most famous panning shots in the history of cinema. Panning, a horizontal motion in an image display or capture. ...

This is the last of the director's films to win an award at the Venice Film Festival, which brought him to the attention of Western critics and film-makers. Unfortunatally, like most of Mizoguchi's works the film has largly been forgotten by western critics, despite maintaining an extremely high rating on the Internet Movie Database [[1]]. Many of the film's fans hope that the Criterion Collection, which has recently relesed a DVD for Mizoguchi's Ugetsu, will give Sansho the same treatment and expose it to a larger audience. The Venice Film Festival (it: Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (began in the 1932) and takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, video games and production crew personnel. ... The Criterion Collection is a joint venture between Janus Films and The Voyager Company that was begun in the mid 1980s for the purpose of releasing authoritative consumer versions of classic and important contemporary films on the laserdisc and DVD formats. ... Ugetsu, aka Ugetsu Monogatari (雨月物語), is a 1953 film by acclaimed Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi. ...

External links

• Sansho the Bailiff at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
• Sansho the Bailiff at the Internet Movie Database.