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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Shohei Imamura (screenplay)
Shichirô Fukazawa (novel)
Release Date:
29 April 1983 (Japan) more
Tagline:
Only time could change the cruelty of tradition ... only their Love could survive it ... more
Plot:
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... more | add synopsis
Awards:
9 wins & 8 nominations more
User Comments:
A shocking, depressing, and even humorous depiction of a villages efforts to survive. more (21 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Ken Ogata | ... | Tatsuhei | |
| Sumiko Sakamoto | ... | Orin | |
| Tonpei Hidari | ... | Risuke | |
| Aki Takejo | ... | Tamayan (as Aki Takejô) | |
| Shoichi Ozawa | ... | Katsuzô (as Shôichi Ozawa) | |
| Fujio Tokita | ... | Jinsaku | |
| Sanshô Shinsui | ... | Zeniya no Tadayan | |
| Seiji Kurasaki | ... | Kesakichi | |
| Junko Takada | ... | Matsuyan | |
| Mitsuko Baisho | ... | Oei (as Mitsuko Baishô) | |
| Taiji Tonoyama | ... | Teruyan | |
| Casey Takamine | ... | Arayashiki (as Kêshi Takamine) | |
| Nenji Kobayashi | ... | Tsune | |
| Nijiko Kiyokawa | ... | Okane | |
| Akio Yokoyama | ... | Amaya |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Ballad of Narayama (International: English title)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
130 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Hong Kong:III | France:Unrated | Australia:R | UK:18 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Movie Connections:
Remake of Narayama bushiko (1958) more
Soundtrack:
Oya wo nemurasu komori uta more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (21 total)
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"Ballad of Narayama" is ultimately a film about survival.
Set during the Meiji Period, the inhabitants of a tiny Japanese farming village are forced to embrace extreme tactics to ensure that they stay alive.
Male babies are instantly killed with hardly any remorse, while females are usually sold. Stealing food is punishable by death, which we see in a very disturbing scene where an entire family are buried alive due their father's crime.
And, ultimately, the elderly are sent to die at the base of a mountain called Narayama when they reach the age of 70.
Despite the depressing tone, there is a lot of humor in this film, as well. The songs that the villagers sing about each other are pretty funny, and it's difficult not to laugh at Old Orin trying to knock her own teeth out with a rock.
Speaking of Old Orin, the actress who player her (Sumiko Sakamoto) gives a wonderful performance in this film. She had her teeth surgically removed for this role, and gives a realistic depiction of a 70-year-old woman even though she was in her 40s when the film was made.
"Ballad of Narayama" is indeed a depressing film in many aspects, but it's also filled with humor and offers a better understanding of what life must be like in these types of situations.