Sansho the Baliff - Kenji Mizoguchi -1954

In Kenji Mizoguchi's film, Sansho the Bailiff, brother and sister Zushio and Anju (respectively) are kidnaped by slave traders and sold to Sansho's compound. Forced into hard labor, they toil throughout their adolescence for over 10 years, maturing as slaves. Mizoguchi's portrayal of Anju as an altruistic savior exposes his faith in, and his compassion for women, making Sansho the Bailiff a feminist film.
       Zushio embraces his role under Sansho by working hard. He rationalizes, if Sansho looks favorably upon him he will have an easier time living there. To gain Sansho's favor, Zushio does some morally questionable tasks. His devotion puts a rift between him and Anju as he avoids conversations about their parents and becomes enraged at her for holding onto the past.

      Anju is altruistic, she remains true to her roots and holds onto the values taught by her family. She follows the words of her father, who believed that all people are equal and should not be denied happiness. Despite having witnessed Zushio's weakness under the pressure of Sansho, she stands by him and decides to give her life in exchange for his escape. Anju's role could be viewed as mothering; she guides Zushio, making the plan for his escape, providing the exit and paving the way for his redemption. She convinces him to go without her, and he does, unaware that she will die after his departure. Without this sacrifice, Zushio's drive to end slavery within the state, and within Sansho's compound, would not have occurred; for he had to believe that Anju was still there to want to save her so desperately.

          Sansho's son Taro joins a monastery to redeem himself of the sins he has committed as an assistant to his father. The film portrays Taro as an autonomous thinker, who is reluctant to accept the role he has been handed. This is first evident in the way he observes Anju and Zushio's situation. It is obvious to Taro that they are not the children of slaves; this reveals that he takes interest in the slaves, he empathizes with them. Taro's kind nature is most obvious when he tucks Anju and Zushio into bed before departing Sansho's compound.

       Zushio discovers that Taro has joined a monastery when he seeks refuge there after having escaped with the sick Namiji. Both Zushio and Taro have left the compound in order to escape slavery and to seek redemption for their sins. Taro is born of a wealthy slave owner, and is forced into slave trading. He had profited from slavery, as he was provided for by it. Despite his having grown up with slavery as a norm, he turns away from it, seeking redemption through religion, a silent protest. Zushio was also raised as a wealthy heir, though of a virtuous governor. Zushio did not immediately learn from the teachings of his father; it is he who becomes the surrogate son of Sansho, even branding a fellow slave. Since Zushio fills the role of Taro in his absence, it is ironic that he is able to protest slavery through action. Perhaps it was that Taro could not appeal to the Emperor's Councillor as the son of Sansho, thus forcing him into a silent protest. Zushio is able to shout his family name, and be heard. By leaving the compound, Taro manages to break from the brutal rule of his father, and any direct association with the enslavement of people. However, this does not erase the slavery that is taking place in feudal Japan. Taro solves his personal conflict, but not the dilemma of society at large.

Zushio's reunion with his mother is sorrowful. One could view the reunion as a happy outcome, but it could not be called a happy ending. The mood of the scene could be described as exhausted. His mother is now elderly and blind, she has spent most of her life longing for her children. Zushio returns to her almost a stranger, he is grown and Tomiko cannot even see his face as he approaches her; she pushes him away from her, fearing it may be a trick. Zushio's accomplishments as governor that carry on the legacy of his father cannot be celebrated with Tomiko, the event is eclipsed by the death of Anju and his father. Tomiko replies to Zushio's pleas for forgiveness by explaining that she knows that because he followed the words of his father, they are able to be together again. Had Zushio never redeemed himself of the sins he committed as Sansho's "son," he would not have been reconciled as the son of his father, or mother, once again. Tomiko, of course, does not know this. She is only aware that the bonds shared within the family that kept her singing the names of her children, are the same bonds that sustained Zushio's faith in the teachings of his family, returning him to her. Their reunion marks the completion of Zushio's growth from adolescence to adulthood, for he has taken responsibility for his actions and reclaimed his place within his family.

Sansho the Bailiff portrays political actions that occur even still today. Sansho's funding of various leaders helps to maintain his business, just as the practice of bribery has always been conducted by people in power. Sansho the Bailiff depicts feudal Japan as a familiar society to an unfamiliar viewer.