Stunningly simple Japanese folk-tale, based on an ancient legend and set in eleventh-century Japan. A humane local governer is forced into exile by his political opponents, and his family, who plan to join him, are left to the mercy of the barbaric times. After falling into the clutches of the brutal bailiff, Sansho, the exiled man's son, Zushio, begins to emulate his new father figure. Breathtaking to look at and intensely haunting, a film of unparalleled beauty by the great Japanese Master Kenji Mizoguchi.