Sansho the Bailiff

『山椒大夫』
Sansho dayu

Presented in collaboration with Japan Society Gallery’s current exhibition, None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection. This screening takes place during the exhibit’s Free First Fridays program. Please come early before the screening to enjoy complimentary gallery admission.

70th Anniversary—35mm Presentation. Set in the late Heian period, Mizoguchi’s devastating jidaigeki (period drama) recounts the tragic separation of a reputable family under wretched circumstances when a virtuous governor is banished to a far-off land by a feudal lord. As misfortune piles upon the children and wife (Kinuyo Tanaka), who are ripped apart from each other and sold into slavery, Sansho depicts a world woven in despair and futility—one where the moral code of man is without mercy. Shot by master cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa and informed by Mizoguchi’s Buddhist principles, Sansho the Bailiff is a monumental work of Japanese cinema.

Dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954, 124 min, 35mm, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayagi, Kyoko Kagawa, Eitaro Shindo.

None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yellen Collection
March 8—June 16, 2024

None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection explores the origins of Zen Buddhism through over four centuries of ink paintings and calligraphies by painter-monks, including the celebrated Buddhist master Hakuin Ekaku.

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Image: Courtesy of Janus Films.

Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family and Friends of Film. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film.

None Whatsoever: Zen Paintings from the Gitter-Yelen Collection is supported, in part, by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

Exhibitions and Arts & Culture Lecture Programs at Japan Society are made possible, in part, by Sompo Holdings, Inc.; the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund; the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation; The Masako Mera and Koichi Mera, PhD Fund for Education and the Arts; Peggy and Dick Danziger; and Friends of the Gallery. Support for Arts & Culture Lecture Programs is provided, in part, by the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor for Japan Society gallery exhibitions.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.