The Ballad of Narayama

Jun 1, 1958

1h 38m

★ 7.5

Overview

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?

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

Shochiku

The Ballad of Narayama Trailers

Cast

Orin

Kinuyo Tanaka

Tatsuhei

Teiji Takahashi

Tamayan

Yūko Mochizuki

Matayan

Seiji Miyaguchi

Matayan's son

Yūnosuke Itō

Teruyan

Ken Mitsuda

Kesakichi

Danko Ichikawa

Matsu-yan

Keiko Ogasawara

Messenger

Eijirō Tōno

One of the villagers who Teaches Narayama's Manners (uncredited)

Kō Nishimura

Tatsuhei's son (uncredited)

Katsuyuki Hattori

One of the villagers who teaches Narayama's manners (uncredited)

Tokuji Kobayashi

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