I just gets better on subsequent viewings. Beautiful, sensitive, poignant, powerful. This film probably won't appeal to those who don't give it the chance to be parsed and absorbed with multiple viewings.
There is a complex interwoven story here, told with beautiful music and imagery. It has affected me deeply. Just yield to it.
Sansho the Bailiff, or as I like to say, How a mother's song found her children and cast upon them the magnetic pull of a mother's unconditional love, is perhaps Kenji Mizoguchi's greatest masterpiece.
Zushio, how I long for you!
Isn't life torture?
Anju, how I long for you!
Isn't life torture?
Beautiful. Mythical. Haunting. And heartrending.
I have seen Sansho the Bailiff perhaps three times, and those moments which are so emotionally affecting are never diminished. I cannot disagree with those who have come before me and declared this one of cinema's greatest treasures.
As beautiful as ever, on what is perhaps my fourth viewing. The pacing in this film is exquisite, as each character slowly learns and digests new information, resulting in a cascading effect which comes around and goes around.
For Ozu, this is a dark film, and one of his best. Of course, whichever Ozu film I'm talking about at the moment, ends up being called one of his best by me. Setsuko Hara and Ineko Arima give finely nuanced performances…
