The Ballad of Narayama (1983) User Reviews

Disturbing, yes. Captivating, certainly!

[hilhorst · 8/10 · 7 February 2005]

This is a film about a culture that has evolved to deal with food scarcity. The people of the village have taken their choices to the extreme. Food is so hard to get (and keep) that the very old and very young must leave. Babiy boys are left to die in the snow, baby girls are raised only to be sold, and the old are brought to the mountain to die. The only thing there is plenty of is sex, for all but one man called Stinker by his peers.

The villagers are intent to secure life for themselves and their family and will do anything necessary. In the middle of this all lives an old lady, almost 70 (the dying age) but healthy and strong. She does not want to burden the family, so she gives up her place in order for the young ones to live.

Imamura registers all this without judgment. This is a lesson to most people, filmmakers in particular. See, feel, but don't judge right away. See, feel, think, and then try to understand.

Tough stuff but asks the basic questions

[kwindrum · 9/10 · 7 May 2006]

I was a little surprised by a few of the negative comments below since I don't consider this film to be at all slow or dull. Many foreign and Asian films (Tsai Ming-Liang, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Hou Hsiao-Hsien for example)are far more grueling and slow whereas this film is loaded with narrative events, humor, eroticism (of various sorts, not all involving contact between humans and other humans)and a profound meditation on community, responsibility and mortality. If one finds this slow then I'd imagine most foreign films besides Amelie would be off-limits. I have rarely seen a film that forces one to confront such disturbing yet important subjects. In this village where scarcity forces all over 70 to be taken to Narayama mountain to die, a 69 year old woman who is still energetic and capable must settle her son's affairs before taking her final journey. Pondering how one would live in a place where for years one would know that at 70 this would happen is one key question. Further, what are the final things one must do before dying. Finally, the film makes us confront the literal truth of bodily decay and corruption in the scenes at Narayama Mountain.

Too much sex, not enough character development

[Chance_Boudreaux19 · 7/10 · 11 November 2022]

Having watched both versions of Ballad of Narayama I came to the conclusion that neither movie is truly great but if elements of both were to be combined it would create the perfect blend. I still enjoy both films quite a lot, it's just that they could've been more. The main advantage of this version is the great cinematography and the use of real life locations. The 1958 movie looks great too and the sets are fantastic in it but this version in my opinion is more impressive with the beautiful shots of real scenery. Additionally, I enjoyed the often metaphorical footage of animals and nature. On top of that I much prefer the way that this story was told as the main drawback of the original Ballad to me was the kabuki style storytelling which thankfully the newer one dispenses with.

However, what the first Ballad did much, much better was that it made me feel for its characters a lot more. That movie is shorter and yet the characters are more realised and when the ending comes and the inevitable has to happen it made me really sad. In this 1983 version the final choice didn't have the same impact due to me not caring as much about the people. On top of that the main matriarch was played much more sympathetically in the older film, thanks to the actress which helped to add to the emotional punch that the movie was aiming for. Instead of focusing on doing more to make the viewer care for the inhabitants of the village the newer Ballad instead opts for the inclusion of a plethora of mostly comedic sex scenes which whilst often amusing can be a bit too much. I understand that it's a bit of a trademark of director Imamura to do this and I don't have a problem with it but I just wish he substituted some of those scenes with others or made the movie longer to add more of the much needed emotion. All in all this is a very good movie, as is the first one but I still think there is room for another go at this story which if done right has the potential to be better than both its predecessors.

A Truly Unforgettable Film

[howard.schumann · 12 August 2002]

Death and what it means is the theme of the haunting and sensuous Ballad of Narayama, a Cannes Film Festival Grand prize winner from 1982 by Shohei Imamaura (Black Rain, The Eel, Dr. Akagi). Based on a novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, this spellbinding film takes place in a rural mountainous area in northern Japan about one hundred years ago. Because the villager's rice crop is meager and starvation is a chronic threat, according to village custom, the elderly must go to die on the summit of Mount Narayama when they reach the age of 70. Group survival depends on it and death is accepted as a fact of life in the village.

I must admit I had a hard time during the first hour being engaged with this film and sorting out all the characters. I found the graphic depiction of the cruel realities of village life to be ugly and often vulgar. For example, one character has sex with a village dog, an entire family is buried alive because they have been accused of stealing, and two snakes copulate next to a couple's sexual encounter in the woods. As the film progressed, however, I found it easier to accept how the brutal struggle for survival ensures continuance and self-preservation.

The story concerns Orin (Sumiko Sakamota) who, in her seventieth year, must complete all the loose ends in her life before she goes to die. One widowed son must find a new wife, another has to sleep with a woman for the first time, and the third needs to be taught manners. When Orin realizes it is her time to be taken to Narayama, her son Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata) carries his mother to the mountain on his back in scenes of ethereal beauty reminiscent of Sokurov's Mother and Son. The resistance of Tatsuhei to his mother's death is familiar, yet nonetheless deeply moving. At the end of the journey, Orin clings to her resolve with tenacity and reconciliation to the inevitable. Sitting on the mountain close to her God, she is rewarded by the sudden grace of the silent snow.

Watching Ballad of Narayama I was forced to confront my own feelings about the morality of suicide. Both during and since viewing the film, I have been haunted by the idea of a loved one slowly freezing to death on a mountain--for my benefit. Although I do not approve of taking one's life as a general ethic, I found Imamura's conception to be so deeply human that it became both tragic and immensely moving. The film functions on a level well beyond pat moralizing, showing the extremes that people will go to out of love for each other, and the grace that can be bestowed on such acts of sacrifice. It is truly unforgettable.

One of my five favorite movies ever - What is uniquely human

[maple-2 · 10/10 · 22 October 2000]

With beautiful photography and sensitive, elegant acting, this is perhaps the best exploration of what it means to be human. As usual, Shohei Imamura draws direct parallels between the basic drives & instincts (hunger, greed, lust, anger, envy) of people and other animals. I have friends who have walked out of this movie because they found these comparisons so depressing when shown in the desperately poor rural Japan during the late 19th century. What they missed was the core intelligence, caring, self sacrifice, clear thinking and love that enabled that community, and by extension the human race, to survive such difficult times.

This sympathetic portrayal of a family in a rural village is the best of ten films I have seen from Imamura, with an epic scale of Akira Kurosawa and all of the subtlety of Ozu.

A Nutshell Review: Ballad of Narayama

[DICK STEEL · 10/10 · 15 September 2007]

It's not difficult to understand why Ballad of Narayama won the Palme d'Or in 1983. Beautifully filmed and probably just about having a little something for everyone, I felt that this was without a doubt the best of the Shohei Imamura movies shown today to commemorate his passing last year, and on what would have been a celebration of his birthday should he still be alive today.

Like the timeless setting in The Profound Desire of the Gods, Imamura's story, a reinterpretation of the book Men of Tohoku by Fukuzawa Shichiro, takes place ambiguously "100 years ago" within a self-supporting nomad group of villagers atop a mountain, where tribal life, ritualistic and tightly knit, involves a peculiar practice when one reaches the age of 70. There's forceful retirement, where the elderly has to ascend Narayama and live out the rest of the days there. The mountain top is the senior citizen's home, and everyone dutifully follows this without question.

And I'd like to reflect on this particular point before dwelling on the others. Watching Ballad brings to mind the thought of death, and how would one decide how to go meet the maker. There's absolutely nothing worse than anticipating the coming of death, or to the point of sadism, to actually add a catalyst to it. The final 30 minutes is nothing short of powerful, where son Tatsuhei (Ken Ogata) journeys with mother Orin (Sumiko Sakamota) up the incline. It balances the stoic, unspoken bonds (one of the conditions in the ascent is to maintain silence) of love with the coming of the reaper with every step inching closer to the summit where the gods are, set against beautiful mountainous scenery. My words fall short of describing this awesome moment, and it's something you just have to see for yourself. And with that, comes the point of dying with dignity. If I choose to go, that's the way I would prefer too, rather than screaming, kicking up a fuss, and cursing everyone else.

The movie follows through this anticipation of the journey with preparation, and showcases the life of Orin and her family, which is nothing short of entertaining with the many facets thrown in. It's drama, comedy and loads of sex in the veins of the 40 Year Old Virgin, but these are basically there as Orin tries her best to tie up loose ends and puts in place some continuity within her family members before her time is up. Things like taking an involvement to ensure one of her sons doesn't stay a virgin (this bit is just plain hilarious with the way it was developed), and with lots of love, teaching her daughter-in-law how to provide for the family.

It's curious to note that Imamura has plenty of National Geographic like shots of various animals, like snakes, toads, owls and crows, and more often than not, showing them in various stages of copulation, or worse, devouring one another. These shots are used as fillers, as if to either remind you before or after a scene, that when boiled down to basics, we are still animals with our primal instincts still very much intact. And if we're left to our own community devices, mob justice, just like the one in Profound, is often very brutal with emotions running high, and this particular thread, including the cunning involvement of Orin, was one that I found quite hard to sit through - the motivation for a daughter-in-law (one that she didn't approve of) was basically to provide for her own kin, but the stark punishment met out, in my opinion, unforgettable, unforgivable, and very excessive.

Ballad of Naray ama deserves every accolade bestowed upon it, and amongst the Imamura movies seen to date, this is something that I would recommend without hesitation. Forget the synopsis which made it sound boring, the real deal is within the film itself.

Shohei Imamura : A true master of human emotions.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 13 August 2008]

On numerous occasions Japanese filmmaker Shohei Imamura has confessed that he is more interested in filming tales of despicable low lives than narrating stories of hypocrite Japanese middle class.This is precisely what makes his film special.It must be mentioned that an earlier version of this film was made in 1958 by veteran Japanese film maker Kinoshita Keisuke.Imamura has often stated that his film is more sensual than that of Kinoshita as it featured a Kabuki style narration of events.Ballad of Narayama is a film about ancient traditions which are hard to follow.It takes place in a Japanese village where a majority of inhabitants are low lives who lead a not so decent life.As traditions are to be respected there is a lot of respect for elders. The highlight of the film is the existential dilemma of a Japanese man whose task consists of leaving his old mother in the mountains of Narayama to be eaten alive by vultures.It is believed that forthcoming generations will live when sacrifices are made by old people.It is amazing how Imamura has managed to recreate a vivid life of ancient Japanese village.Ken Ogata is a joy to watch as an obedient son who hesitates to see his old mother die.A truly great film to learn about the eccentricities of human mind especially of the oriental kind.

a universal story of human obsolescence

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 24 January 2023]

Japanese period drama from Shochiku and writer-director Keisuke Kinoshita. In a poor farming village, old woman Orin (Kinuyo Tanaka) is feeling the pressure, both from her ingrate grandson, and her own conscience and adherence to tradition, to commit obasute, wherein elderly people travel to the top of nearby Narayama mountain and wait to die from starvation or exposure. Orin is the strongest, most productive member of the family, but youth trumps utility, and Orin prepares to make her final journey.

Using widescreen and color film, director Kinoshita uniquely melds the cinematic with the theatrical, as the story is told in near kabuki fashion, with a singing narrator and traditonal Japanese musical instrumentation. The sets are stylized and deliberately artificial, with realistic settings in the foreground, and miniature or painted backdrops behind them. There is also repeated use of monochromatic lighting, from red filters to green filters, to accentuate the mood of the scene. The performances are equally stylized in the kabuki manner, and as such may be off-putting to Western audiences unused to the style. I thought the film was tremendous, an artistically challenging production with a very striking audio and visual presentation, and a moving, universal story touching on aging and obsolescence forming the bedrock. Recommended.

Not a film about how elderly people die, but about how society values their lifes

[frankde-jong · 7/10 · 27 November 2021]

"The ballad of Narayama" (1983, Shohei Imamura) is about the custom (called "ubasute" in Japanese) that at reaching the age of 70 parents are carried up a mountain by their eldest son in order to die at the top of that mountain.

There have been times in which "ubasute" was existing practice in some areas of Japan, but it is mostly known as the subject of mythology. I have seen two adaptations of "The ballad of Narayama". The adaptation of Keisuke Kinoshita from 1958 is more close to "ubasute" as a myth. The adaptation of Shohei Imamura from 1983 treats it more as a real existing practice from the past.

According to one review I read the central theme of the film is the way a society thinks about death. In Western societies death has become highly medicalized and as a result less visible (still according to the above mentioned review). In the Japan of the Middle Ages death was much more a simple fact of life.

I am not convinced by this interpretation. In my view the film is not so much about how elderly people die, but how they live and how society thinks about this group of people that inevitably are less productive then they once were.

The film is situated in the Middle Ages and the central problem is food. Society simply cannot afford a large group of people that eat more food than they can produce. Lets not think however that in modern times we have outgrown such Malthusian lines of reasoning. This kind of discussions come back again and again, but always in a slightly modified form. Ten years ago it was not about food but about money. How can society finance a growing group of retirees that are getting older and older. In recent times of the Corona pandemic there are fierce discussions about the claim elderly and vulnerable people are making on the health care system. In this way the theme of the film remains its topicality.

Beautiful!

[filho_de_oxum · 10/10 · 21 August 2000]

This is one of the most beautiful and moving motion pictures I have ever seen. The extreme hardships faced by the people in this story are presented frankly and unsentimentally. The cinematography is absolutely exquisite, particularly the last 10-15 minutes. Although the film never gives in to or panders to sentimentality (sentimentality, Imamura?), the end is really a tear-jerker. As much as I hate to make lists of my "favorite things", this movie would definitely rate among my top ten of all times. Do yourself a favor and see this movie!

Made it Ma, Top of the Mountain!

[ElMaruecan82 · 6/10 · 31 October 2020]

"The Ballad of Narayama" had always been presented to me with an aura of mystery tainted with fascination; the story of a son carrying his mother the top of a mountain so she could die in peace. So much poetry in the premise I couldn't resist.

I tried to watch the original but time screwed up my arrangements and put the remake in my hand first and it's within my personal desire to watch Golden Palm winners that I saw it. It's interesting that the previous film I watched in that category was the Turkish "Winter Sleep", a film with the same hivernal setting allowing people to introspect onto their lives. "Nayarama" has the same setting but is less existential and more colorful, to say the least. It's not exactly the picture I expected, and director Shohei Imamura depicted a gallery of peasants with an eagerness to emphasize their crassness that he reminded me of Antonioni and his "Ugly, Dirty and Bad" slum people. I guess I'm still partial to the more poetic flourishes of Kurosawa.

I understand the positive reception (it's Cannes after all) but I didn't enjoy "Nayarama" even to the degree that I could grasp its inner poetry. Honestly, maybe it's the discontentment brought up by the Covid context but I found the film to be a succession of unpleasant characters indulging to the worst practices. I find myself guilty not to be able to appreciate the social comment and the magic of the camera beneath the ugliness they depict but what can I say about a film that shows a dead baby soaking in a rice field. Scenes of sexual games that involve into rapes or just plain rapes? Of mass lynching consisting of burying people alive, including a pregnant mother and children? Of brutality against animals? Or sons urging their grandmothers to die, same grandmother who lures a woman into a deadly trap... and break his teeth in a very cringe worthy scene.

And so on and so forth. I understand that a film isn't entitled to portray goodness in every frame, maybe the bad is the foil to the good, we're flooded with images of perversion only to highlight in contrast the majesty of nature, or say the purity of the mountain when covered by snow, it hides with its drape of white the sight of skeletons rotting under crows and scavengers... but my issue isn't just with the form. I believe there is a problem with the content too, one that left me confused, to use a neutral term. The film jumps from one barrack of a village to another to another and left me puzzled most the time. I will be honest but at times I couldn't tell the characters apart, except for Ken Ogata who plays the straight and dutiful son Tatsuhei and his mother Orin, played by Sumiko Sakamoto. The colorful and comic relief character named "the stinker" looked a lot like his other sibling and I couldn't recognize many of the female characters.

It was a difficult film to follow and I wish it could take us to one direction, but I wasn't able to follow it until I got to the point where Tatsuhei took his mother to the mountain. Finally I thought and that part, which is only one quarter of the film (maybe less) worked like a relief from all the mess that went before, I didn't feel there was any connection whatsoever with the first, except to show us a slice of life in the ancient Japanese rural town, far from the more forgiving lyricism depiction of Kurosawa (who didn't sugarcoat them in "Seven Samurai"). After the film we understand that there was a time where life and death were handled rather cynically and that could only be shown through the unforgiving eye of Imamura and his documentary-like style of directing.

There are many scenes of people having sex that are intercut with animals, in fact, many shots randomly thrown in the film, seem to magnify the fauna and flora as if the point was to establish the bestiality of men and their being part of the natural cycle, which makes the mountain tradition and understandable necessity and a paradox. Even in times where people indulged to actions we'd deem as savage, there was room for secular traditions and yet these traditions didn't exclude nature. Any deviation or disobedience would bring shame upon a family and let a soul wander in limbo of nothingness. The point isn't that some traditions or superstitions would be pointless (why a woman be taken to a mountain if even at 69 she's in good health?) but that the worse would come from absence of tradition.

It was a long way from these traditions to our modern and civilized societies, but maybe the film shows that thin breach civilization took to find its way despite men's savagery. Still, for all the meaningful richness of the film the whole experience was so unpleasant that there came a moment I couldn't pinpoint exactly and I was like "what am I watching this?". What's the purpose of all these characters? Of having them being so unpleasant. I couldn't tell. There's a point of them acting so ugly but there was a limit to which I could endure this ugliness.

Imamura is one of the few directors with two Golden Palm winners, I liked "The Eel" a bit more but I thought the climax was misplaced, this time, I didn't enjoy "Nayarama" but I'm glad it reached its peak (literally) with the right scene. I'm looking forward to seeing the original but not with the same urge.

Harsh yet beautiful

[flautist_englishdork · 10/10 · 28 January 2005]

This is actually an extraordinarily beautiful film, if one has even the remotest understanding of Japanese culture around that time period. The harshness of life in Japan made the sort of society in which people went to "be with their loved-ones" and "be with the God of the Mountain" at age 70 completely necessary. The focus of the film is the struggle for survival, and more than that, prospering, in the harsh environment of c. XIX Tohoku. The exploration of this topic takes the viewer into a study of survival through strict rules, and prospering through sexual relationships. The scenes of sexual intercourse serve to portray that even in sexual situations, the Japanese as a people have never viewed nature and animals as separate from ourselves.

The Ballad of Narayama

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 19 December 2015]

I found this Japanese film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I read the description of the story and found the title intriguing, and I hoped it would deserve four stars out of five critics give it. Basically in a small rural village in 19th century Japan, according to tradition, once a man or woman reaches the age of 70 they must go through a practise known as ubasute, where they will travel to a remote mountain to die of starvation. The story follows 69-year- old Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto) and in sound health of course, but she knows that a neighbour father had to be dragged up the mountain by his son. Orin resolves to avoid clinging onto life beyond her term and spending a year arranging all her family affairs and the village for when she passes away. These include Orin severely punishing a family who are hoarding food, and helping her younger son lose his virginity, but in the end she ultimately faces up to tradition and is taken up the mountain. Also starring Ken Ogata as Tatsuhei, Tonpei Hidari as Risuke "Smelly", Aki Takejô as Tamayan, Shôichi Ozawa as Katsuzô / Shozo, Sanshô Shinsui as Zeniya no Tadayan, Seiji Kurasaki as Kesakichi and Junko Takada as Matsuyan. The story is interesting with harsh moments with the subjects of rape, famine, mortality, birth and death, throughout it all there also cutaways to the natural world, with animals, ultimately it is about trying to evade the final journey, I may have lost track slightly, but overall it is a splendid drama. Good!

Despite very high ratings, the sledgehammer symbolism and overall unpleasantness are serious problems with this film.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 16 October 2013]

This remake of "The Ballad of Narayama" has a very respectable rating of 7.7 and lots of very positive reviews. However, I found the film to be an endurance contest of unpleasantness. It also made its point through TONS of what my daughter terms 'sledgehammer symbolism'--where the director tries so hard to put forth their symbolism that it all becomes too tiresome and too obvious. Subtle this movie isn't!

This film is set in a time and place in Japan where life is very, very hard and starvation is the norm. To deal with this, the lovely people in these mountains have a tradition--that their elderly should go up in the mountains to die when they reach 70 so that they aren't a burden. Additionally, infanticide, stealing food and all other forms of nastiness abound in this hellish place. But director/writer Shôhei Imamura doesn't stop there--the film also has scenes of bestiality, LOTS of sex scenes (not the sexy kind, either), a family being buried alive, a woman knocking out her own teeth, a guy tossing his father down a mountain and animal abuse! Somehow Imamura seems to have forgotten necrophilia and incest!

As far as the symbolism goes, Imamura shows innumerable scenes of animals eating each other or copulating. It's VERY obvious he's trying to draw a parallel to say that these people are living like animals...too obvious. Plus, call me crazy, but I don't want to see all these scenes of animals killing each other or having sex!! Life is too short to watch stuff like this and although "The Ballad of Narayama" has nice production values, the thoroughly unpleasant nature of the film make it hard to recommend to anyone.

A must see movie

[dks35 · 10/10 · 13 February 2000]

One of the best films I have ever seen. Teaches you how to love your parents and kids. The cast and photography are amazing. A must see movie. As for the previous comment from US on this film - isn't USA a country where the elderly are sent to nursing homes to die, often stripped off their dignity? So, go visit your granny or mommy...

A shocking, depressing, and even humorous depiction of a villages efforts to survive.

[kiddar · 8/10 · 27 January 2005]

"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.

A true masterpiece

[Galina_movie_fan · 10/10 · 6 March 2008]

Based of the old and unusual Japanese legend, Shohei Imamura's "The Ballade of Narayama" won the Golden Palm in 1983 Cannes Festival. Set in the 19th century in a remote mountain village in the north of the country, it tells of the custom according to which when a person reached 70 years old they were taken to the top of Mount Narayama and left there to die.

When I saw "The Ballade of Narayama" back in the 80s, I did not know anything about it. There were no commercials; the film was not widely released. I think it was only two shows in the theater near our house in Moscow. All we knew that the film was a Cannes Festival winner. Our sons were little then, we did not have a babysitter, and we bought tickets to two different shows. My husband went first, and when he came back, I waited for him at the door, ready to leave. He looked quiet, serious and withdrawn when he returned home. I asked him how the movie was and he said to me to go and see it, and then we'd talk...After I came home, I did not want to talk, I did not know what to say, I was overwhelmed - with the unique style of film-making that I did not know even existed, with the images, but also with the very simplicity of the story and with the whole concept of surviving above everything else. Among the most devastating scenes for me was the old woman readily and happily accepting her turn to be taken to Narayma. The woman of perfect health and mind, the one who is perhaps the sanest in her family is so tired of this life that she on purpose knocks out one of her teeth just to seem older, more fragile, helpless, and ill and to be taken to the long -awaited rest. But before she is taken to Naryama, she will take care of her three grown sons' problems.

There are many unforgettable scenes in the film, both bleak and life-affirming. One stands out after all these years. There is a shining brilliant spring day, and every living creature in sight is engaged in love, young couple on the swing, birds, animals, and snakes - the whole nature celebrates life and longing and love. And soon after that, as the contrast, the horrifying scene where the family of thieves who had stolen some food from the neighbors are buried alive.

And there is the final part - the ascent to Narayama, the middle-aged son carries his mother to her final resting place, the last minutes between a son and his mother, and then, the snow in the end, white and pure, covering the earth and preparing it for the long sleep, and covering the old Orin, comforting her softly and preparing her for eternity...

Above the normally expected motion picture role

[vivera · 10/10 · 16 December 2006]

When a person visits cinema to see a movie, he/she usually expects to see filmed version of some story, whatever the film story shall be. So, let's go and see the Narajama story! Well, Legend of Narajama to me was much more than that. It's expressiveness is above the term "story", "film" etc. It is one o the most incredible things I have seen in my life (beside Rodin's Kiss in his Paris museum, and Trier's Dancer in the dark and few more exceptional works of ... let's use the word "art"). Shockingly naturalizing presentation of way of living in rural part of Japan, simpleness of characters' acceptance of facts of life (giving life for others' survival), nativeness of roles are probably main attributes.

I've seen it in the year 1984/85, fortunate me, for until tonight's IMDb's Narajama appearance to me this movie has been totally gone.

Highly recommended!

really under Kinoshita's version

[the_frenchie · 7/10 · 4 March 2000]

if you haven't watch Kinoshita's version (in 1958), go and see > it. It's really a jewel, more poetical and original, even more strange, than this one. You won't be disappointed.

This made me understand a significant moment in my life

[BandSAboutMovies · 8/10 · 7 January 2021]

The Ballad of Narayama came late in the career of director Shohei Imamura who claimed that a viewing of Kurosawa's Rashomon inspired him to imagine that a new freedom of expression was possible in post-war Japan. Starting as an assistant to Yasujiro Ozu, he soon was dissatisfied, as he wanted to show a different take on how he saw Japan.

He left Shochiku for a better salary at Nikkatsu and became the assistant director to Yuzo Kawashima, who was known for his tragic satire. From his first film as a director, Nusumareta Yokujo (Stolen Desire), he courted controversy, unafraid to show the lower caste of Japan and frank sexuality.

Imamura saw himself as more of a cultural anthropologist than a filmmaker and was all about being an iconoclast, even starting his own studio and pushing for projects that would fail, having to make small films for most of the late 70's and early 80's due to Kamigami no Fukaki Yokubo (Profound Desires of the Gods), a deeply personal film that took a year and a half to make and wasn't seen as a success at the time.

By the 1980's, Imamura was able to mount larger-scale movies, including this one, a remake of Keisuke Kinoshita's 1958 The Ballad of Narayama.

A key member of the Japanese New Wave, Imamura is one of the few directors to keep making films through the 21st century and the only director from Japan to win two Palme d'Or awards (for this movie and The Eel).

My grandmother died last month. I'm not telling you that out of a need for sympathy, but to tell you where my head was while watching this movie. It's about ubasute, which is translated as abandoning an old woman, which was the ancient Japanese practice of carrying an infirm or elderly relative to a mountain or other desolate place and leaving them to die.

You may think that this is a barbaric practice. But in our world of modern medicine that keeps people alive well beyond the time that they should be deceased, I wonder sometimes that we keep people with us for so long that it becomes torture. I don't have the answers but I've tried to keep an open mind as I watched this movie, sometimes overflowing with emotion.

In a small Japanese village in the 19th century, Orin (Sumiko Sakamoto, who Imamura cast in two other of his movies, The Pornographers and Warm Water Under a Red Bridge; she won the Japanese Best Actress from Nihon Academy for her performance in this film, as well as a kiss from Orson Welles) realize that at the age of 69, she is but months from having to go up the mountain to die. She's of sound mind and body, but doesn't want to be like the old men who fight every step of the way, screaming that they want to stay alive.

Over the next year, we see her life, whether it's the negative of young people referring to her as an old witch or the positive, where we see her fix the problems of the village, help her son Tatsuheito (Ken Ogata) to find a wife and set things right before stoically going on to her death in the snow.

As we see the lives of the villagers, we also see nature intrude, whether that's through the birds in the trees or the snake that is always near, even in moments of incredible joy.

How strongly did Sakamoto believe in this role? She extracted four of her teeth just to play the scene where Orin smashes out all of her teeth to convince her family that she must die.

Beyond Sakamoto's awards, this movie also won best film at the Japanese Academy Awards numerous best actor awards for Ogata, who played Sakamoto's son, a best supporting actress award for Mitsuko Baisho, best sound and an excellence in cinematography award.

This is a film of juxtaposition, of the lowest and most base of humanity in contrast with ones that will sacrifice everything. Moments of sheer beauty stand hand in hand with scenes of violence and pain. It's a heartbreaking film yet one that reaffirmed my belief in life, in the cyclical nature of death and rebirth. And it is by no means an easy watch.

June 2008 Release by AnimEigo is FAULTY, Do not buy this version!

[bagloon · 21 June 2008]

AnimEigo's June 2008 DVD release of The BALLAD of NARAYAMA has been eagerly awaited for many years. Unfortunately, and for reasons that are as infuriating as they are inexplicable, the company which has released the film (AnimEigo) has issued it in "full screen format" and not in Anamorphic Widescreen. This is particularly annoying for two rather considerable reasons: 1) On the box, it says "Anamorphic Widescreen," - that is "letterboxed" - but it clearly is not; I have checked out the print sent to me by NetFlicks and then at a local Video shop. 2) The film's enormously high reputation is based in great measure on its superlative cinematography and this butchered version released by AnimEigo ruins the imagery and the enjoyment of the film.

The company should not be allowed to assert that the film is in ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN when it is not. This is called bait and switch.

For those who wish to see this film as it was intended, DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION. Write to AnimEgo and get them to release the film properly. Their address (supposedly) is ANIMEIGO / P.O. Box 989 Wilmington, NC 28402-0989. Their phone number is 1.800.24-ANIME.

Beautiful but not very watchable

[ASuiGeneris · 7/10 · 7 December 2017]

The Ballad of Narayama (Japanese: Narayama bushikô) (1983) (Not to be confused with the superior original version from 1958)

Not my type of film, Cruel ubasute custom, Harsh graphic sex scenes, National Geographic, Cringed through significant film.

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/ubasute/2

(Tanka (短歌 tan-kah) poems are unrhymed short poems that are five lines long, with the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format.

#Tanka #PoemReview

Be prepared to be haunted by the scenes of brutality and sexual fervor

[tmalinko · 10/10 · 10 January 2005]

It is a shocker, which opens on a villager finding a dead newborn boy on his field… His only resentment is: why HIS field was chosen? The fact of murdering a baby doesn't seem to concern anyone in this hunger-stricken small village, population of which must adhere to rather radical if cruel set of regulations in order to secure the survival of their community. Set in the late 19th Century, this film will leave you to ponder the structure of our own society as you'll find many parallels with modern day. An unforgettable experience! This masterpiece is not for those who expect to be entertained. Be prepared to be haunted by the scenes of brutality and sexual fervor long after the movie is over. A must see for every serious cinema admirer.

Brutally Basic.

[net_orders · 7/10 · 12 September 2016]

Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars; subtitles =eight (8) stars. Director Shouhei Imamura's imaginative view of what life might have been like in a dirt-poor, isolated, small village during Japan's feudal era. The film operates at two basic levels: entertainment and cultural analysis. The Director introduces and nourishes a pretty full range of very fundamental human emotions and life conditions in this cinematic Petri Dish including superstitious behavior and sexual worship. Acting is a bit on the hammy side and some scenes are too long. The latter is especially the case for the sequence depicting the village's solution to the problem of an aging population: haul/backpack healthy seniors to a distant mountain bone yard and leave them there to die from starvation and the elements. Cinematography (wide screen, color) and set design are good given that exteriors seem to have been shot entirely on location (often in what seems to be five feet--or more--of snow). The overly-long opening sequence shot from a helicopter, though, is a bit shaky. Jump-cut editing can be sloppy with snow banks incredulously appearing in or disappearing from contiguous scenes. Subtitles consist of two information streams: at the top of the screen appear thoughtful notes on culture and language while the bottom presents reasonably edited translations of dialog (either or both streams can be turned off). Score is sporadic but okay. Interior scene lighting can be on the dim side. Recommend viewing this gem a couple of times to discover all it has to offer. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, Ph.D.

Vicious, Nasty, Brutal

[zlovc · 3/10 · 12 June 2008]

There are many glorious, wonderful movies celebrating the courage, honor and spirit of the Japanese peasant in the face of overwhelming adversity. This is not one of them. Where to begin. Well, at the beginning, where we are treated to the bloated body of a dead child, left by its parents to rot in a rice paddy. This is followed by multiple variations on the same theme: patricide, matricide, and further infanticide. At least two innocent children are buried alive. Daughters are raised to be sold into slavery. There is a little self-mutilation. Add in some gleeful animal cruelty - beating a horse and bestiality with a dog, the latter intended as comic relief. The "wise" old matriarch of the central family intentionally, by trickery and without a shred of remorse, causes the murder of one son's pregnant "wife." This is a masterpiece? This depravity won the Palme d'Or? And don't tell me "You just don't understand." I understand it completely. I "get" it. One commenter states "See, feel, don't judge." Are you kidding me? I saw it and I felt ashamed. I will grant that the acting job by Ken Ogata as the eldest son was terrific. His was the only character with an iota of conscience. And yes, the mountains and the snow were beautiful during the main title sequence and at the conclusion. However, they amounted to nothing more than fancy bookends for two hours of inhumanity and cruelty. No thanks. Give me Messrs. Ozu and Mizoguchi. Please.