SAM Films

The Climate of Beauty: The Films of Kenji Mizoguchi Sansho the Bailiff May 2, 2010 1:30–4 pm Plestcheeff Auditorium

Called "Japan’s truest creator" by film legend Akira Kurosawa, director and painter Kenji Mizoguchi (1898–1956), with his ravishing pictorial style and portrayals of women in period settings, always felt he dwelled in "the climate of beauty." The historical eras that Mizoguchi explores are bound by strict codes of behavior and thought, which the director challenges with his humanistic, anti-feudal, anti-traditional sensibility.

In Sansho the Bailiff (1954, 125 min.), Mizoguchi evokes suffering and heroism on a mythic scale, as an aristocratic family is broken up by a political power play. The son is sold into slavery, but under the influence of two strong women, he seeks a righteous, sweeping revenge.

Other films in this series, presented in conjunction with the exhibition Fleeting Beauty, include:

Members: $22.00
Adults: $25.00

Prices above are for the entire film series. Series tickets may be purchased at the Ticketing Desk at any of SAM's three sites, or over the phone with a credit card by calling the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121.

Single-film tickets are $7 for everyone, sold day of show at the auditorium (cash/check only).