A nobleman is banished in disgrace and his children are sold into slavery. It's an old Japanese folk tale, Sanseo Dayu, and it served as the basis for Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film, Sansho the Bailiff. It was also turned into an animated film in 1961 called Anju and Zushio (Anju to Zushio maru, 安寿と厨子王丸. Sansho the Bailiff is considered one of Mizoguchi's best films (Terence Malick is obsessed with it) but I think I might prefer the animated film.
It seems like I just saw Sansho the Bailiff recently but I see from my blog it's actually been nine years. Good grief. I suppose I should watch it again before I decide which is the better film. Anju and Zushio is exquisitely designed. Like the original tale, it's set in the Heian period, or the eleventh century, and the art design beautifully imitates artwork from the era.
This version has talking animals and it's the family's friendship with animals, particularly a bear who sounds a bit like Ed Wynn speaking Japanese, that gets them into trouble. There's also a mermaid or possibly merman (the being's chest is blank white) who tries to save the children.
Kyoko Kagawa plays Anju in the Mizoguchi movie and I love Kyoko Kagawa. But I have to say I prefer her portrayal in the animated film. In this version, she turns into a swan, which comes off really beautifully. Mizoguchi tried to imbue his version with realism but it doesn't quite work with how simplistic the characters are, particularly the women. As a fairy tale, magical plot elements serve to deepen the story, to suggest something more in line with the complexity of real human thoughts and dreams.
X Sonnet #1849A steady rhythm lived beyond its lease.
A simple town was rendered round and weird.
An older game displays its sprites as geese.
The flying fowl were bone and fleshy geared.
The right to breeding bugs was kept apart.
The hammer men could never use their tools.
Inquiries breech the beetle's shielded heart.
Beginner scores would not confirm the fools.
An early haunted house would hug the heat.
Considered time betrayed the egg for salt.
Surpassing spice was pepper painted peat.
The whisky men would lock the boggy vault.
The wily internet avoids his eyes.
Connexions fail to link the chain of pies.
A nobleman is banished in disgrace and his children are sold into slavery. It's an old Japanese folk tale, Sanseo Dayu, and it served as the basis for Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film, Sansho the Bailiff. It was also turned into an animated film in 1961 called Anju and Zushio (Anju to Zushio maru, 安寿と厨子王丸. Sansho the Bailiff is considered one of Mizoguchi's best films (Terence Malick is obsessed with it) but I think I might prefer the animated film.
It seems like I just saw Sansho the Bailiff recently but I see from my blog it's actually been nine years. Good grief. I suppose I should watch it again before I decide which is the better film. Anju and Zushio is exquisitely designed. Like the original tale, it's set in the Heian period, or the eleventh century, and the art design beautifully imitates artwork from the era.
This version has talking animals and it's the family's friendship with animals, particularly a bear who sounds a bit like Ed Wynn speaking Japanese, that gets them into trouble. There's also a mermaid or possibly merman (the being's chest is blank white) who tries to save the children.
Kyoko Kagawa plays Anju in the Mizoguchi movie and I love Kyoko Kagawa. But I have to say I prefer her portrayal in the animated film. In this version, she turns into a swan, which comes off really beautifully. Mizoguchi tried to imbue his version with realism but it doesn't quite work with how simplistic the characters are, particularly the women. As a fairy tale, magical plot elements serve to deepen the story, to suggest something more in line with the complexity of real human thoughts and dreams.
X Sonnet #1849
A steady rhythm lived beyond its lease.
A simple town was rendered round and weird.
An older game displays its sprites as geese.
The flying fowl were bone and fleshy geared.
The right to breeding bugs was kept apart.
The hammer men could never use their tools.
Inquiries breech the beetle's shielded heart.
Beginner scores would not confirm the fools.
An early haunted house would hug the heat.
Considered time betrayed the egg for salt.
Surpassing spice was pepper painted peat.
The whisky men would lock the boggy vault.
The wily internet avoids his eyes.
Connexions fail to link the chain of pies.
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