NOTA |
(★)(Among Mizoguchi Kenji´s unquestioned masterpieces ´Sanshoo Dayuu (Sansho the Bailiff, 1954)´ is a version of one of Japan´s most famous folk-legends. When their father is exiled to a remote outpost, Anju and Zushioo are forced to flee with their mother. Kidnapped, the children are separated from her and enslaved by the melevolent Sanshoo. Though a reunion ends the film, it is only at the most terrible human cost. /A heartbreaking tragedy in form, rooted in elemental aspects of Japanese society, ´Sanshoo Dayuu´ is also a modern artwork made in the aftermath of World War II, which reflects on old and new values. It was responsible as much as any other film for bringing Japanese cinema to the rapt attention of Western audiences. /Dudley Andrew and Carole Cavanaugh bring out the film´s cultural, aesthetic and contextual nuances. In dialogue with each other, the authors elucidate a distinctively Japanese work that nevertheless speaks of universal themes. /Dudley Andrew is Professor of Film Studies and Compararive Literature at Yale University. In addition to his books on film theory and French cinema he compiled, with his brother Paul, ´Kenji Mizoguchi : A Guide to References and Resources´. /Carole Cavanaugh is Associate Professor of Japanese and Director of the Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College in Vermont.) |