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The Ballad of Narayama

The Ballad of Narayama

  • Overview
  • Cast
  • Crew
  • Recommendations

Status

Released

Release Date

Jun 1, 1958

Runtime

1h 38m

Genres

Drama

User Score

74%

Original Title

楢山節考

Production Companies

Shochiku

Director

Keisuke Kinoshita

Description

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?