FREE ON YOUTUBE Kenji Mizoguchi - Sansho Dayu

FREE ON YOUTUBE  Sansho the Bailiff is a movie named after the villain. Not after one of the characters we like and identify with. Sansho is completely heartless. Not a human being, a creature! The story, set in the feudal Middle Ages (and strongly reminiscent of the terrible deeds of the Japanese during the Second World War), introduces Tamaki, the wife of the friendly district administrator. With their son they had to flee from Sansho. At night they take a rest, build a shelter under the huge treetops and ignite a celebration. In the distance wolves howl. It may be a moment of brief fleeting happiness. Then she finds the old priestess, offers them shelter in her house. She suggests that they go by boat. In the morning they leave - but a dark figure flies after them. A trap. They are caught by human traffickers. The women are to be sold as prostitutes, the children as slaves for Sansho... Mizoguchi is a true director of women for me. Throughout his career he was obsessed with women's rights. He is one of the greatest Japanese directors from the classical phase. His camera looks as if it is flying gently. Sometimes we watch the action, sometimes we are forced to look away. Just when the camera "looks away". For example, if something is too painful or too personal, then the camera simply decides to look away. Sansho is a story that has gripped me with full force! We are given time to fully recognize Sanshos atrocities while a loving family is destroyed for no good reason. There are people who are born without mercy and do evil with great joy. Sansho is such a person who feels joy in his sadistic deeds. Sansho is a film that really destroyed me. And one of the best I've ever seen! Have I ever seen anything better? Nevertheless, I didn't dare to see Sansho again. I just didn't want to take that ordeal upon myself again.