Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film, "Sansho Dayu" (Sansho the Bailiff), is based upon the well-known 1915 Ogai Mori narrative, which was in turn taken from a folk tale of some antiquity. In all versions, the basic anecdote remains the same, although the tale varies with the teller.
The family of an exiled lord is sold into slavery. The two children are taken from their mother. After many adventures as chattel of the cruel bailiff, the boy escapes (the girl commits suicide) and after yet more hazards is reunited with his dying mother.
Whatever the intentions of the original tale, in Mori's version it is mainly about politics -- the ups and downs of influence. His Meiji-period-like interpretation also included some religion -- a sacred amulet makes the children's branding scars disappear, and at the end the cruel bailiff is not even much punished, since Buddha always forgives. As in everyday politics, things go on as before.