The Ballad of Narayama (1958)
June 1, 1958
Drama
1h 38m


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?
Cast & Crew
- Director
- Keisuke Kinoshita
- Orin Kinuyo Tanaka
- Tatsuhei Teiji Takahashi
- Tamayan Yūko Mochizuki
- Matayan's son Yūnosuke Itō
- Kesakichi Danko Ichikawa
- Messenger Eijirō Tōno
- One of the villagers who Teaches Narayama's Manners (uncredited) Kō Nishimura
- One of the villagers who teaches Narayama's manners (uncredited) Tokuji Kobayashi
Recommendations
Keywords
- family relationships
- dying traditions
- social convention