After their father quarrels with local military men, Anju and Zushio are forced to flee, but they are captured and sold into slavery. When their mother dies, they are sold to Sansho the Bailiff, a cruel man who subjects them to hideous torments. While Anju falls into a lake and is transformed into a swan, Zushio escapes and after being adopted to a nobleman grows to a young man. He will then fight to defeat the evil Dayu and free all the slaves.
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Reviews
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
Anju to zushio-maru (1961) is a very interesting children's animated version of the classic Japanese folk tale known as "Sansho the Bailiff". The first film version was Kenji Mizoguchi's classic Sansho Dayu (1954), based on the short story written by Ogai Mori.It contains some songs sung by the characters. There are talking animals that follow Zushio and Anju around also. The storyline is a bit different than the 1954 film. The thing that got Zushio's dad in trouble was a dispute over hunting rights on land surrounding their home. Another official started a big forest fire out of spite and blamed him for it - that's why he is exiled. Sansho has several sons, including one who is very cruel and another who is very kind and spiritual. The rest of the main story details are fairly similar to the 1954 film. Although it is clearly a children's film, it was still entertaining. If you like the original film, you will find it interesting to watch another telling of this classic story.The English language version of Anju to zushio-maru is titled "The Littlest Warrior". It runs for 70 minutes, while the complete Japanese version runs for 83 minutes.
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