September 3, 2006

"A world of almost inconceivable savagery .... unendurable grief."

Terrence Rafferty -- writing about Kenji Mizoguchi -- singles out "Sansho the Bailiff," a beautiful, brilliant film. (Rafferty reveals the ending, so don't read the last paragraph of the linked piece if you haven't seen the movie.)

If I were making a list of the most profoundly moving films I've ever seen, there is only one other than "Sansho the Bailiff" that would spring immediately to mind. (The other one is mentioned in this old post.)

4 comments:

amba said...

The link in your old post for "Grave of the Fireflies" (if that's it) just leads to a current Roger Ebert page. Googling isn't Tonya's thing but it is mine. Also Japanese . . . and animated?? Just the title is sad.

Ann Althouse said...

Amba, thanks for alerting me that the link had gone bad. I've fixed it. Yes, it's an animated film. The characters are children, and having them animated keeps it from becoming maudlin.

Hazy Dave said...

I see my daughter recently put Grave Of The Fireflies at the top of our Netflix queue. I'll make sure to sit down and watch it before she goes off to school in a couple weeks. (Netflix hasn't yet heard of Sansho The Bailiff, however.)

Ann Althouse said...

Hazy: It's not Netflix's fault. It's not out on DVD. I expect a really nice one soon.