The Ballad of Narayama
98 mins
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?
Seiji Miyaguchi
Matayan
Ken Mitsuda
Teruyan
Keiko Ogasawara
Matsu-yan
Katsuyuki Hattori
Tatsuhei's son (uncredited)
Shichirō Fukazawa
Novel
Shûzô Horikawa
Sound Mixer
Hideo Nishizaki
Sound Recordist
Hisao Ōno
Sound Recordist
Chiyoo Umeda
Art Direction
Mototsugu Komaki
Set Decoration
Toshikazu Sugiyama
Costume Design
Genzô Furumiya
Set Designer
Yoshi Sugihara
Editor
Matsunosuke Nozawa
Original Music Composer
Ryuzo Otani
Producer
Masaharu Kokaji
Producer
Yoshikazu Ōtsuki
Assistant Director
Kisaku Ito
Production Design