Sansho The Bailiff (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #49 extract: Shansho The Bailiff (1954)



Sansho The Bailiff is a strong film, one that focuses the function of mercy in the world. Whilst it is shot beautifully and forms a powerful allegory around redemption and following in the footsteps of the good as to continue their legacy, I found this to be slightly lacklustre. 
This follows the son and daughter of an exiled governor into slavery, where they are made to wait for a decade before any chance of escape. Without much of a debate around the core theme of mercy put to screen through our two main characters, the drama is rather one-dimensional. There a moments in which we recognise an argument against the moral of the film - one immersed in hopelessness - but they don't bear much force. The ending, if it not a literal one, instead, one that mimics that of Ugetsu Monogatari, complexifies the film greatly. But, I would have to sit down and watch this again to see if this deserves the title 'masterpiece'. As of now, I can only say that this is a strong morality tale.

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