Sansho the Bailiff

1954 drama

Rating: 18/20

Plot: After a governor is exiled for being too nice, his wife and daughter experience misfortunes.

A beautiful downer, this film lets scenes of these characters' plights unfold in a way that makes them deeply felt by the viewer. I can't remember seeing a movie in which this much time unfurled so naturally. Lots happens, mostly tragic, but by the end of this epic, it's all so focused on one main idea--that the world is cruel, probably even crueler for those who live selflessly--that it almost feels like nothing's happened at all. How Mizoguchi packs in so much story and still allows enough space to appreciate it all in a film a little over two hours is probably what is the most masterful about Sansho the Bailiff.

That title is a strange one. I can't imagine why this is named after the main villain, who only gets about ten minutes of screen time tops. I assume it's because of his beard. He hardly seems all that vital as a villain as the movie makes clear from the words I had to read at the beginning that this is a world "when mankind had not yet awakened as human beings." Clearly, it's the world that is the villain here.

It's a hard film to enjoy because you can't enjoy what happens to these characters. Each one experiences, some offscreen. They lose things, they long, they despair, they give up on their ideals, they redeem themselves, they wander off, and they sacrifice. It's all so quiet, Mizoguchi apparently afraid that if he draws any more attention to what is going on, it would be too much for the audience. Moments still stand out though. The resolve of the titular bailiff's son, the sacrifice of a sibling, the skepticism of a downtrodden character. These are images that I'm not likely to forget.