"Sansho the Bailiff" "Produced by Masaichi Nagata" "Based on a story by Ogai Mori" "Screenplay by Fuji Yahiro Yoshikata Yoda" "Director of Photography Kazuo Miyagawa" "Art Direction:" "Kisaku Ito" "Music:" "Fumio Hayasaka" "Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi" "The origin of this legend of Sansho Dayo (The Bailiff) goes back to medieval times" "When Japan had not yet emerged from the Dark Ages and mankind had yet to awaken as human beings." "It has been retold by the people for centuries and it is treasured today as one of the epic folk tales of our history." "Zushio, be careful." "Okay" "Mother." "What is it, dear?" "How did it happen that Father ended up in faraway Tsukushi?" "He's a great man, isn't he?" "Certainly." "He is a man of justice; a fine man." "I thought so!" "Father!" "Zushio-sama!" "Zushio-sama!" "Don't be wild!" "Step back!" "We're not trying to do anything wild." "We came to appeal." "Then calm down!" "You're the General?" "Master, please show us your face!" "We're all here for you!" "What good will that do?" "We'll have Master's transfer canceled!" "Transfer is a pretense!" "It means exile!" "What kind of nonsense is that?" "They punished him because of us!" "We can't be silent!" "Let's all go to the General's office to appeal!" "Wait, hold it!" "I know you love our Master." "But this would be against his wish!" "Be sensible and listen to us." "For thirteen years, famines have caused you sufferings." "To live, you need every working hand you have." "That was why the Master opposed the General's demand... for more men to fight wars and more rice to tax." "His attempt to help you was overruled." "If you make a false step now, you too will be punished!" "That's right!" "If you riot, he'll be blamed!" "He'll be accused of rebellion!" "So return to your homes!" "You're too lenient!" "This is a revolt!" "Kill 'em!" "What are you talking about?" "I will not approve that!" "Never!" "What insolence." "You're no longer the Governor, remember?" "Zushio-sama!" "It's roasted." "I am sorry I have caused you trouble, Uncle." "You're involved us all." "Aren't you sorry for your wife and children?" "Peasants are to be pitied as well." "Nonsense!" "Peasants are peasants!" "You fool!" "Take the children to your parents' home, to Iwashiro, Tamaki." "Yes." "Tell them..." "I'm sorry they trusted a man as I." "Zushio." "You will become a stubborn man like me?" "You may be too young to understand." "But listen." "Without mercy, a man is not a human being." "Be hard on yourself, but merciful to others." "Men are created equal." "Everyone is entitled to happiness." "Our family treasure.." "The Goddess of Mercy." "keep it as a remembrance of my principle...and of me." "Now repeat what I've just told you." "Without mercy, a man is not a human being." "Be hard on yourself, but merciful to others." "Men are created equal." "Everyone is entitled to happiness." "Do you remember your father's face?" "Yes, Mother." "And his teachings also?" "Yes, Mother." "Zushio, you have to say goodbye to Father now." "You will be a lovely lady, Anju." "Hmm?" "Take care of your sister and mother." "Yes, Father." "We're not parting forever." "Be hopeful and brave." "I never dreamed that I might have to leave this province." "Governor!" "..." "Master!" "Master, don't leave!" "Master, don't leave!" "Come on, let's hurry." "We must find an inn." "We are travelling, children, the road Father walked." "Father." "My lady!" "My lady!" "No lodging is available in this area." "Why is that?" "Bandit gangs and slave dealers frequent this place, posing as travelers." "They've been kidnapping women and children." "So the Governor has prohibited accommodating travelers, I hear." "Bandits and slave dealers?" "What trouble we're in." "What can we do?" "Let's find a place to camp." "We have no other choice." "Camp, ma'am?" "Yes." "Let's build a shelter before it gets dark." "Zushio, Anju, help us, will you?" "Here you go." "Mother, do you need more?" "Yes, get more thatch and soft grass for our beds." "Come, Anju." "Yes, Brother." "This branch, Brother." "You can't break it by yourself, Anju." "Mother is calling us." "Come on, it's just the sound of the wind." "No, it's Mother!" "Anju" "Come back here quickly!" "Zushio!" "..." "Anju!" "You two must be famished." "This should help some." "What's that?" "Wolves, ma'am." "Don't worry." "They won't come near a fire." "Stop worrying." "It's all right, dear." "It's all right." "I'm sorry we haven't any hot food." "I'll get some rice gruel from a farmer." "And some bedding, if I can." "I'll be right back." "I appreciate your effort." "Who is it?" "What on earth are you doing here?" "We are travelers." "We are here as no lodging is obtainable." "Oh, I'm so sorry." "The cold night wind is harmful to children." "Come to my place." "I can give you some hot gruel." "I appreciate your kindness." "But I don't want to involve you." "Just come quietly." "The authorities will overlook us, if it's only for a night, I'm sure." "Come, quickly." "Thank you." "But there is one more person with us." "Another person?" "Is this person...a man or a woman?" "A woman, the children's nurse." "Then it's all right." "Imaging a man lodging with a priestess." "I was able to get straw mats, but no food, my lady." "That's all right." "The priestess has generously offered us shelter." "Oh, really?" "All right, let's go." "Thank you." "It's more than our pleasure." "Thank you." "Thank you." "How can I ever thank you enough!" "No problem." "Better than wasting my time serving God..." "But even my family..." "Hard times..." "You stayed six years at your brother's home in Iwashiro?" "That's right." "Even brothers and sisters, when they get married..." "Thanks to your meal, they could fall asleep." "And what's your plan of travel?" "Go by sea." "By land it's impossible." "Huge waves snatch the travelers away from the shore road." "And the hills are infested with bandits." "Is the sea quite safe?" "Certainly." "I know reliable boatmen." "I'll ask them for you." "Thank you." "I made all the arrangements while you were asleep." "How can we thank you?" "Not at all." "Thank you." "Here they are." "Please take good care of them." "Come this way." "Please get on the boat." "I'll never forget your kindness." "Zushio, Anju, thank the lady." "Thank you, ma'am." "Farewell." "Farewell." "I'll be praying for your safe voyage." "Come, lady, you are first." "Miss Anju, Master Zushio." "Hurry." "Get back, I'll help the children." "The children will ride this boat." "Sailing is faster with fewer people." "That won't do." "We must ride the same boat with my children." "Please!" "Shut up!" "Mother!" "Priestess, are you sure they're reliable?" "You'll be taken together to the right place!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "I'll give you all the money." "Please go back." "Please row back." "Please!" "Mother!" "Row back." "Please!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Go back!" "Go back!" "Those kids." "These kids?" "They're too small!" "They're smart, very useful." "How much?" "Four-fifty for one." "Eight for two." "They look weak." "Sick?" "Where'd I be?" "No way." "Enough of sobbing." "Your Ma's sold to Sado Island." "She cannot hear you crying." "Stop it!" "Or you'll get no food!" "Please." "I must dispose of them." "Have a heart!" "Go to Tango." "See Bailiff Sansho." "Bailiff Sansho?" "He's the richest there." "He'll buy from you." "Don't waste your time around here." "Hurry!" "Hey!" "Don't be standing around!" "The kids are here." "Bow to Master." "Paid for these weaklings?" "You fool?" "What can they do?" "They're unfit for rough work, Pa." "Let them sweep the yard." "No; they cost me money." "They have to work." "They must!" "What are your names?" "They won't tell, Master." "Why not?" "Stubborn kids, eh?" "Take them away." "Stand up!" "Go!" "Have no mercy on them!" "Walk!" "Walk!" "Brother!" "Anju!" "Brother!" "Anju!" "Where are you going?" "Come here!" "Get this newcomer started." " She should be playing with dolls!" " What?" " No kidding." " Don't argue and put her to work." "I can't believe this!" " Come try." " Okay." " Can you walk?" " Yes." "Beast!" "That heartless demon!" "I don't know who sold you, but..." "Poor thing!" "Get up." "Come on." "Brother!" "Forgive me please!" "I beg you!" "I wasn't trying to escape!" "I really wasn't!" "Those kids reminded me of mine back home." "I just went to the third gate." "Fool!" "That's as bad as trying to escape!" "Forgive me!" "Forgive me!" "What are you going to do?" "Give her what's due, of course." "Namiji, eh?" "Will they kill her?" "Of course not." "They won't kill us." "They hate to lose a hand." "Confine her?" "Don't know what a caught runaway slave gets?" "Look at this." "I won't do it again!" "She's apologizing." "You don't need to stigmatize her!" "Those ones should be given a lesson." "You do it, Taro." "You weakling." "Don't look." "Eat your supper and start your night work, you!" "Get in here." "Where were you sold from?" "Come here..." "Tell me." "Don't be afraid." "You got parents?" "They sold you?" "My father never would!" ""Father" you say?" "Evidently no peasant's kids." "How were you sold?" "Tell me everything." "Here, have some rice cake." "It's even roasted well." "When a messenger from the Minister of the Right is coming" "Taro chooses to disappear!" "Hey, Kichiji!" "Where is Taro?" "Go find him!" "The vistor'll be here any moment." "Bring the women, put some make-up on them!" "Bring some sake!" "Are you ready?" "Children like you are sold and bought treated like animals and nobody questions it." "What a horrible world!" "Tell me your father's words again." ""Without mercy, man is not a human being."" ""Be hard on yourself, but merciful to others."" "Wish I could get you to your parents." "But Sado is far." "Tsukushi is further." "No children can go." "Wait until you grow up!" "Be patient the while!" "I see why you kept your name secret." "But you'll need names just the same." "I'll name you." "You're... "Young Mutsu," after your birthplace." "You'll have hardships to bear with." "So "Shinobu," To endure." "All right?" "Master Taro!" "The messenger from the Minister is coming." "You have to go back to the Hall." "Tell my father that you couldn't find me." "He's an important guest from Kyoto!" "Come with me." "I thought you came suddenly to reprimand us, sir." "Nonsense." "Why reprimand you?" "We have to thank you." "You collect rice and tax for us most shrewdly." "You send us gifts and bribes more and more every year." "I feel honored, sir." "You're the most trusted man among all his bailiffs." "I've been instructed to carefully study your methods of handling your men." "Oh, heavens." "I hardly deserve such praise." "I'm only doing my duty managing his Lordship's manor." "Which is seldom done nowadays." "The Minister appreciates your work so much he said he'd like to invite you to Kyoto as a reward." "Oh, is that right, sir?" "Yes." "My goodness!" "I appreciate his kindness." "Kichiji, bring the chest here!" "As a humble token of my gratitude, sir." "I appreciate it." "May I present my son Taro." "Offer cordial thanks." "You are lucky to have such a good father." "Be a dutiful son." "Begin your dance, girls." "Gone to sleep?" "Take care of yourselves." "Open the gate." "Where to so late?" "Shut up." "After ten years," "The young children have developed into sturdy young people in spite of their long hardship and misery." "The winter finds Zushio, Alias Mutsu, 23 years old." "Anju, Known as Shinobu, is 18." "Brother." "Brother." "What?" "The alarm." "That way!" "He ran that way!" "This way!" "This way!" "Let me escape!" "Let me!" "For fifty years I've been working patiently!" "I'm seventy." "My days are numbered!" "Let me die a free man...even in a ditch." "Young Mutsu, you handle this." "Who did the branding?" "Young Mutsu." "How cruel of him!" "He'll die a miserable death." "Mutsu is a bad one." "Must be the son of a bandit or brigand." "You're not to blame, so stop worrying." "Teach this newcomer." "Pleased to meet you." "Take care of her." "Look." "This way..." "Try it." "What's your name?" "Kohagi." "Your age?" "16." "From a peasant family?" "Yes." "Where were you sold from?" "Sado." "Sado?" "You don't happen to know a woman named Tamaki?" "No." "Sold to Sado ten years ago." "She was thirty-five, thirty-six..." "She must be forty-five or -six by now." "I don't know." "Sado is a big island." "Feeling pain again Namiji?" "I feel as though a heavy stone's in my stomach." "But you're getting worse..." "I can't rest until I die." "We're not human beings." "Why does the rest of the world turn its back on us?" "Don't be silly." "You're talking like a newcomer." "Now work hard or you too will be..." "'How I long for you, Zushio...'" "'Isn't life a torture...'" "'How I long for you, Anju...'" "'Isn't it so hard?" "'" "One moment." "What was that song?" "Say it again, will you?" "It goes, 'How I long for you, Zushio and Anju.'" "Who taught you that?" "It was once popular in Sado." "Who first sang such a sad song?" "A courtesan, they say." "Coutesan?" "One named Nakagimi." "Do you think she's still alive?" "Well..." "I don't know." "You say it goes, 'How I long for you, Zushio and Anju,' right?" "Sing it again." "Yes." "'How I long for you, Zushio...'" "'Isn't life torture...'" "'How I long for you, Anju...'" "It's Mother!" "'Isn't it so hard?" "'" "Wait for me!" "Wait for me!" "Take me along!" "Please take me!" "Here's all I have!" "Row off quickly!" "Quick!" "Please!" "Nakagimi, for goodness sake!" "Let's go home!" "She's impossible!" "Cut her tendon so she can't run away." "Please, Boss1 I won't do it again!" "Have mercy on me!" "Shut up!" "Forgive me!" "Watch this, girls." "All runaways meet this fate." "Too bad Nakagimi." "You can't see the mainland today." "Stop it, Anju!" "It's useless!" "That was the first news about Mother." "You talk terrible." "Don't you think of Father and Mother anymore?" "Don't you long for them?" "What's the use of longing for them?" "If we escape from here...there'll be..." "How?" "Without any money, how will we look for them?" "Look at us now, better not meet them at all in the first place." "So, we'll first go to Kyoto and become somebody's." "Somebody's?" "Fantastic." "We're servants, despite our birth." "Slaves!" "Who'd bother with us?" "You'd be sold to a brothel." "I'd become a thief." "Or we'd both be beggars." "You've the heart of a bandit already!" "A soul baser than that of a beggar!" "How could you brand a man's forehead like that?" "How could you be so brutal?" "Did you forget Father's words?" "Aren't you ashamed before the image you keep close to your heart?" "Zushio!" "How could you?" "The goddess did me no good!" "It's better to be loyal to the Bailiff and look for his favor." "You have changed." "Mutsu, Namiji is past cure." "Dump her in the forest." "Namiji is like our sister." "Please let her breathe her last here." " Take her, Mutsu." " Yes." "Don't take her, Brother." "She's still alive." "Don't give her to wild birds." "It's the Bailiff's order." "Another dead one?" "This one's still alive." " You take her!" " Yes!" "Open the gate." "Not you!" "Next time you're reborn. come to a family like the Bailiff's!" "Be born to a rich family. remember!" "Hey, hurry up." "I tied this to the Buddha, so hold it tight." "And this is an image of the Goddess of Mercy!" "You'll be born fortunate in the world to come." "Ready?" "That's too ruthless." "Can I at least cover her with a roof against the frost?" "Then, do it quick." "Brother."