Scene Analysis: Sansho the Bailiff, Anju's Sacrifice

Shot-By-Shot Analysis

Shot 1:

The scene begins with a shot of a wooden gate with an opening in the middle. Behind the gate is a wooded area covered in fog. In front of the gate is a clearing of dirt and rock. Part of a tree trunk covers a portion of the right side of the frame. A woman appears coming in from the right side of the frame. There is no sound except for the sound of her footsteps. Her back is facing the camera. She appears to be a middle-aged Japanese woman. She is dressed plainly and has her hair tied back. The woman walks to the gate and towards the gateway, she goes through the gateway, walks a few steps to the right, then to the left and forward. She stops, framed by the gateway, she appears to be looking at something. 

Shot 2: 

The camera cuts away from the woman standing at the gate. It goes instead to the image of a Japanese woman walking slowly through the woods. The woman's back is towards the camera.The camera is at a higher level than the woman and is slightly angled to look down at her. It appears as though the camera is looking down the slope of a hill.There is tall grass and bamboo shoots filling up most of the frame. In the background is a large lake. The woman walks through an opening in the bamboo shoots towards the lake. For the first few seconds of the shot there is no noise. Then there comes the sound of a woman singing in Japanese. The woman singing is not the woman in the shot, making the sound non-diegetic. The sound is faint and has an echo-like, dreamy quality about it. There is no accompaniment to the singing except for the occasional picked notes of a string instrument. The woman sings the words, "Zushio how I long for you. Isn't life torture? Anju how I long for you."

The woman stops at about the left center of the frame and is partially obscured by bamboo leaves. The woman turns to the right revealing most of her front side. She puts her hands together in a praying gesture and bows her head, she then lets her hands fall to her side. She leans down and appears to reach for something with her right hand. She faces away from the camera again and begins to walk slowly into the water. The music from the previous scene continues with the off-screen woman singing, "Isn't life torture?"

Shot 3:

The camera then cuts closer to the woman standing at the edge of the lake. She is framed by bamboo leaves and the shore. Her back is to the camera. She walks slowly into the water with her head bowed and arms hanging at hr side. She walks further and deeper into the water, more of her body disappearing with every step.The water ripples out away from her in circles. There is a clear view of her shadow behind her. Before the camera cuts again she is seen half submerged in the lake, the water up to her waist. Part of her head is obscured by bamboo leaves.

Shot 4:

The music continues and the camera cuts again to the first woman. She is again framed by the opening in the gate, however this time the camera is closer to her. She stands half bowed, her hands pressed together in a praying gesture. Her face almost touches her hands. Her knees begin to shake and her legs begin to bend until she suddenly collapses on her knees. On her knees she bows slightly over and over. The woman trembles and her hands, still pressed together, shake. 

Shot 5: 

The camera cuts again to a close up of the lake, partly obscured by what appears to be the branches of a tree or a bush growing out of the lake. At the top of the frame, slightly right of center, is a circle of tight ripples. Bubbles come up from the center of the circle causing the ripples to move out further. The bubbles stop and the water gradually becomes calmer and smoother. The woman off-screen continues to sing. End of scene.

Analysis:

Immediately following this scene the camera cuts to an image of the temple that Zushio will find refuge in. Although the camera never shows the actual act of drowning, it is clear that Anju, the woman at the lake, has killed herself. It is interesting to note that the camera never shows the drowning, since the suicide is the central moment of this scene. Instead we are taken back to an image of the other slave woman, Kayano. The angle of the camera on the shots of Anju actually makes it appear as if the audience is looking through Kayano's eyes. We see Kayano walk out of the gate and look off in the distance somewhere down the hill and then suddenly the camera cuts to an angle that looks down the hill. At the moment of the actual drowning the camera cuts from Kayano's perspective and back to an outsider perspective, that of one away from the characters and peering through the gates. 

This take-away from the action isn't unusual in this film, as the violent moments in the film are often not shown, but only heard. In this case the moment is not actually heard either, however the song played in the background still helps to create the mood of the action. The song is a song of loss that greatly reflects the loss that is about to occur in the film with the death of Anju. It is fitting that the lyrics, "Isn't life torture?" are sung as Anju first begins to make her way into the water. As the mother sings about the trials of life, Anju is ending hers and ridding herself of those troubles. 

Yet, Anju's suicide is not a way for her to escape hardship, but rather for her to make her brother, Zushio's life better. By sacrificing herself Anju allows Zushio to seek a better life. In many ways Anju is very much like a Christ-figure. This scene is both an end and a beginning, Anju sacrifices her life, but Zushio gets a new one. Anju allows herself to die so that her brother may seek a new life and gain redemption for his past sins. Anju plays her role by helping her brother escape and committing suicide and Zushio fulfills his by becoming an authority figure and freeing the slaves he once helped torture. Even if Japan doesn't necessarily follow this sacrificed savior/ redeemed sinner tradition that Western/Christian countries would, there's still definitely a spiritual aspect of this scene. 

I think part of the spiritual aspect can be seen in the importance of nature in this scene. Anju commits suicide in nature and by nature. In every shot of Anju she is framed by leaves or trees. Nature is an important aspect of Japan's two most popular religions, Shintoism and Buddhism, I don't think it was any accident or coincidence that Anju committed suicide in a lake surrounded by woods. I also don't think it is a coincidence that immediately after this scene the first shot is of a Buddhist temple with a giant Buddha statue in the center of the frame. There are obvious religious undertones in this scene.