MOVIE · 1954
Sansho the Bailiff
Drama124 min
After an idealistic governor is banished in 11th-century Japan, his wife and children are left exposed on the road and split apart by slave traders. The siblings, Zushio and Anju, are sold into forced labor under the ruthless bailiff Sansho, where their father’s teachings about mercy are tested by a brutal system built on obedience and fear. Kinuyo Tanaka is the children’s mother, separated from them as the family collapses, and Kyoko Kagawa’s Anju becomes a central presence in the siblings’ struggle to endure captivity.
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