The Ballad of Narayama

Movie

1958

1h 38m

Japanese

Drama

User Score:

7.7

Critic Score:

Watch on The Criterion Channel

The Ballad of Narayama

Movie

1958

1h 38m

Japanese

Drama

Watch on The Criterion Channel

In Kabuki style, the film tells the story of a remote mountain village where the scarcity of food leads to a voluntary but socially-enforced policy in which relatives carry 70-year-old family members up Narayama mountain to die. Granny Orin is approaching 70, content to embrace her fate. Her widowed son Tatsuhei cannot bear losing his mother, even as she arranges his marriage to a widow his age. Her grandson Kesa, who's girlfriend is pregnant, is selfishly happy to see Orin die. Around them, a family of thieves are dealt with severely, and an old man, past 70, whose son has cast him out, scrounges for food. Will Orin's loving and accepting spirit teach and ennoble her family?

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7.7

IMDB

CRITIC SCORE

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Cast

Orin

Tatsuhei

Tamayan

Matayan

Matayan's son

Teruyan

Kesakichi

Matsu-yan

Messenger

One of the villagers who Teaches Na...

Tokuji Kobayashi

One of the villagers who teaches Na...

Masao Oda

One of the villagers who teaches Na...

Directed By: Keisuke Kinoshita

Written By: Keisuke Kinoshita, Shichirō Fukazawa (Novel)

Featured Comments/Tips

jimkbarton@hotmail.com says...

8 months ago

Truly a remarkable movie and a stunning achievement in film history. What a feast for the eyes!

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Sigeki Ogino says...

2 years ago

Shohei Imamura's "The Ballad of Narayama" is excellent, as usual, but I would recommend another master, Keisuke Kinoshita's version. Kinoshita's version has a bizarre and unique mood. It has no equal in the world, drawing on the classical arts of Kabuki, Bunraku, and Noh. Although low-budget, it is like watching an indigenous theater performance. With this unique cinematic style, Kinoshita has successfully restored the legend of the Japanese ubasute. But the original author, Fukasawa Shichiro, who revealed the extraordinary world, is also amazing. Kinoshita's directional skills have turned this horrifying Japanese custom into a work of art.

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