This film, like several films by director Kenji Mizoguchi from this period, was widely praised in both Japan and the West for its smoothly flowing camera work. But these camera movements were, in fact, planned and blocked by his great cameraman, Kazuo Miyagawa, rather than by the director, who gave Miyagawa free rein in his use of the camera.
Kenji Mizoguchi initially intended to center the film around Sansho, the Slavelord. However, the film ended up with the sad story of Zushio and Anju as its narrative, dramatic center.
In all previous versions of the tale of Zushiô and Anju that exist, Anju is depicted as Zushiô's older sister. However, for this film, the director, Kenji Mizoguchi, was so determined to cast as Anju the talented young Kyôko Kagawa - who was, in fact, considerably younger than Yoshiaki Hanayagi, who plays Zushiô - that in the film he depicted Anju as Zushiô's younger sister. Mizoguchi's reversal of the birth order of the characters was not well-received by Japanese critics at the time, as customarily in Japanese tradition it is almost always the older sibling who helps the younger one. This may be one reason why praise for the film at the time was muted, and why it has never appeared in Japanese critics' lists of the best Japanese productions of all time, though it has appeared in some Western critics' "best of" lists.
Kenji Mizoguchi left the composer alone to do the music. He also did that before in his previous films Ugetsu Monogatari as much as Chikamatsu Monogatari.
Underwent a restoration by KADOKAWA Corporation and The Film Foundation at Cineric, Inc. in New York with sound by Audio Mechanics, in association with The Japan Foundation and special thanks to Masahiro Miyajima and Martin Scorsese for their consultation.