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Drama

The Ballad of Narayama

- Only Time Could Change the Cruelty of Tradition… Only Their Love Could Survive It…

In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse they would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.

Release Date : 1983-04-29

Language :Japanese

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Toei Company

Production Country : Japan

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Ken Ogata

Character Name : Tatsuhei

Original Name : 緒形拳

Gender : Male

Sumiko Sakamoto

Character Name : Orin

Original Name : 坂本スミ子

Gender : Female

Tonpei Hidari

Character Name : Risuke

Original Name : 左とん平

Gender : Male

Aki Takejo

Character Name : Tamayan

Original Name : あき竹城

Gender : Female

Shoichi Ozawa

Character Name : Katsuzô

Original Name : 小沢昭一

Gender : Male

Fujio Tokita

Character Name : Jinsaku

Original Name : 常田富士男

Gender : Male

Sanshō Shinsui

Character Name : Zeniya Tadayan

Original Name : 深水三章

Gender : Male

Seiji Kurasaki

Character Name : Kesakichi

Original Name : 倉崎青児

Gender : Male

Junko Takada

Character Name : Matsuyan

Original Name : Junko Takada

Gender : Male

Taiji Tonoyama

Character Name : Teruyan

Original Name : 殿山泰司

Gender : Male

Casey Takamine

Character Name : Arayashiki

Original Name : ケーシー高峰

Gender : Male

Nenji Kobayashi

Character Name : Tsune

Original Name : 小林稔侍

Gender : Male

Nijiko Kiyokawa

Character Name : Okane

Original Name : 清川虹子

Gender : Female

Akio Yokoyama

Character Name : Amaya

Original Name : 横山あきお

Gender : Male

Mitsuko Baisho

Character Name : Oei

Original Name : 倍賞美津子

Gender : Female

Reviews

B

badelf

@badelf

2023-11-24

The short review is "life's a bitch, then you die" LOL, that doesn't do this absolutely brilliant film any justice, though. Imamura has crafted a rather sardonic, brutally honest mirror of humans. Like humans, it is both hard to watch, and simultaneously invokes emapthy. Few directors every achieve this level of mastery of the audience's emotions. It holds a well-deserved Palme d'Or. The legend upon which the movie is based is called Ubasute (姥捨て) in Japanese, or "abandoning an old woman". There is no evidence of it ever being a common practice, though it's a persistent myth in Japan. One of the very plain statements of the director, is that Ubasute reflects the way contemporary Western culture treats it's elderly. In the USA, at least, nursing homes substitute for Narayama mountain.