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SANSHO DAYU (LEGEND OF BAILIFF SANSHO / SANSHO THE BAILIFF) - 1954
Based on an ancient legend, as recounted by celebrated author Mori Ogai (in his short story of the same name, written in 1915), and adapted by Japanese director Mizoguchi Kenji, Sansho Dayu is both distinctively Japanese and as deeply affecting as a Greek tragedy. Described in its opening title as “one of the oldest and most tragic in Japan’s history”, Mizoguchi depicts an unforgettably sad story of social injustice, family love, personal sacrifice, and fateful tragedy.
Set in Heian era (11th century) Japan, it follows an aristocratic woman, Tamaki (played by Tanaka Kinuyo, who also stars in Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu Monogatari), and her two children, Zushio (Hanayagi Yoshiaki) and Anju (Kagawa Kyoko), who are separated by feudal tyranny from Tamaki’s husband. When the children are kidnapped and sold into slavery to the eponymous “Sansho” (Shindo Eitaro), the lives of each of the family members follow very different paths – each course uniquely, and insufferably, tragic.
Famed for its period reconstructions and powerful imagery, often through the director’s trademark long takes, Sansho Dayu is one of the most critically revered of all of Mizoguchi’s films, and a classic of world cinema, often cropping up in lists of the greatest films ever made.
DVD FEATURES
Original Fullframe Version
Japanese audio
Optional English subtitles
Video discussion about Sansho Dayu by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns.
GION BAYASHI (1953)
In GION BAYASHI Ayako Wakao stars as Eiko, the 16-year-old daughter of a recently deceased geisha, who nonetheless harbours some romantic notions about what the profession entails. Miyoharu (Michiyo Kogure), an aging geisha, agrees to take on the younger woman, initiating her into the life. After a year of training, Eiko is prepared to make her debut, but in order to do so she must obtain a sizeable sum from Okimi, the madam who owns the teahouse from which she would operate.
To provide the money, Okimi must get a loan from businessman Kusuda (Seizaburo Kawazu), a client of Miyoharu, who intends to trade the geisha in an illegal business deal, while retaining Eiko's services for himself. Although the geishas accompany the businessmen on their trip to Tokyo, they refuse to sleep with them, and Okimi, infuriated by their rebellion, refuses to use them. Ayako Wakao is superb in this sensitive, nuanced account of the relationship between women of different eras.
DVD FEATURES
Original Fullframe Version
Japanese audio
Optional English subtitles
Video discussion about Kenji Mizoguchi, Sansho Dayu & Gion Bayashi by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns
Trailer
Teaser
Lavish 80-page book featuring archival imagery; articles by Robin Wood (film critic and author) and Mark Le Fanu (author of Mizoguchi and Japan); and a full reprint of an acclaimed translation of Mori Ogai’s original 1915 story on which Sansho Dayu is based.
Part of the Masters of Cinema Collection.
OUT OF STOCK - WE ARE NO LONGER CARRYING THIS DVD |
![SANSHO DAYU / GION BAYASHI (Kenji Mizoguchi) [MASTERS OF CINEMA]](images/sansmocbr1b.jpg "SANSHO DAYU / GION BAYASHI (Kenji Mizoguchi) [MASTERS OF CINEMA]")
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