The Ballad of Narayama (1983)

Original title

楢山節考

Directed by

Shohei Imamura

Genre

drama film, comedy drama, art film

Country

Japan

Runtime

2h 10m

Rated

R 18+

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 204 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An elderly woman prepares to be taken to a mountain to die, following a local custom. The film follows her family's daily life and their difficult decisions around this tradition.

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What happens

The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, Narayama bushikō) is a 1983 Japanese film by director Shōhei Imamura. It stars Sumiko Sakamoto as Orin, Ken Ogata, and Shoichi Ozawa. It is an adaptation of the book Narayama bushikō by Shichirō Fukazawa, which had previously been adapted for a 1958 film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. Both films explore the legendary practice of ubasute, in which elderly people were carried to a mountain and abandoned to die. Imamura's film won the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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